THE  SECO 


i 


FRENCH  EMPIRE 

V  NAPOLEON  THE  THIRD  / 


THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 


THE  PRINCE  IMPERIAL 


HOW 


a 


I 


LIBRARY 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

SANTA  BARBARA 


PRESENTED  BY 


Mrs.    MacKinley   Helm 


r^        f 


C  7^kj&&yyu0  \*\  0 


A 


% 


THE   SECOND   FRENCH    EMPIRE 


w 


THE   EMPEROR   NAPOLEON   III. 
From  an  engraving  of  the  portrait  by  Cabanel. 


MEMOIRS  of  DR.  THOMAS   W.    EVANS 


Th, 


SECOND  FRENCH  EMPIRE 


EDITED   BY 

EDWARD    A.    CRANE,    M.D. 


NAPOLEON  THE  THIRD 
THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE 
THE    PRINCE    IMPERIAL 


NEW    YORK 
D.    APPLETON     AND    COMPANY 

1905 


Copyright,  1905,  by 
D.   APPLETON  AND  COMPANY 

Bights  of  translation  reserved 


Published  November,  1905 


b 


£80. 


This  volume,  entitled  "  Memoirs  of  Dr.  Thomas  W.  Evans — 
The  Second  French  Empire — Napoleon  III  —  The  Empress 
Eugenie  —  The  Prince  Imperial, ' '  contains  a  portion  of  the 
"Memoirs  and  Unpublished  Works"  of  the  late  Dr.  Thomas 
W.  Evans ;  and  its  publication  is  approved  and  authorized 
by  his  Executors,  as  directed  by  the  writer  in  his  last  will 
and  Testament. 


Charles  F.  Muller,       "\ 

I  Ea 


Arthur  E.  Valois,  |  Executors  under  the  toil!  of 

Edward  A.  Crane, 
William  W.  Heberton,- 


Edward  A.  Crane,  J  Thomas  W.  Evans,  deceased. 


New  York,   1905. 


PREFACE 


On  account  of  my  friendly  connection  for  more  than  thirty 
years  with  the  late  Dr.  Thomas  W.  Evans  and  in  compliance  also 
with  his  frequently  expressed  desire  that  I  should  be  the  editor 
of  his  "  Memoirs  "  and  manuscript  remains,  these  writings  were 
placed  in  my  hands  soon  after  his  death ;  and  I  have,  since,  been 
requested  by  his  executors  to  prepare  for  publication  that  portion 
of  them  which  gives  the  sub-title,  and  forms  the  subject-matter 
of  this  volume. 

Dr.  Evans's  long  and  close  attachment  to  Napoleon  III.  and 
his  family,  the  confidential  relations  he  maintained  with  other  sov- 
ereigns and  princely  houses  and  his  large  and  intimate  acquain- 
tance among  the  men  and  women  who,  from  1848  to  1870,  were 
the  governing  powers  in  Europe,  afforded  him  unusual  opportuni- 
ties of  observing  the  evolution  of  political  ideas  and  institutions 
in  France,  and  the  conditions  and  the  causes  that  immediately 
preceded  and  determined  the  fall  of  the  Second  French  Empire 
as  seen  from  within;  and  supplied  him  also  with  facts  and  very 
valuable  information  concerning  the  same  subjects  as  seen,  or 
gathered  in,  from  without.  No  man,  moreover,  was  better  ac- 
quainted than  he  with  what  may  be  termed  the  moral  atmosphere 
of  the  several  Courts  to  which,  for  so  many  years,  he  was  pro- 
fessionally attached.  In  a  word,  he  had  acquired  an  unusual 
amount  of  that  kind  of  knowledge  which  is  derived  from  frequent 
and  informal  intercourse  with  persons  filling  the  highest  official 
and  social  positions  in  widely  separated  political  communities, 
and  which  especially  qualified  him  to  form  and  pronounce  correct 
judgments,  with  respect  to  the  significance  of  the  events  that  were 

vii 


viii  PREFACE 

the  most  remarkable,  and  the  character  of  the  rulers  and  of  the 
men  who  were  the  most  prominent,  during  a  very  interesting 
period  of  French  and  European  history. 

Although  Dr.  Evans  could  make  very  little  pretension  to  liter- 
ary ability,  he  possessed  the  gift  of  saying  what  he  had  to  say 
with  such  evident  sincerity,  that  it  is  greatly  to  be  regretted  he 
has  placed  on  record  so  little,  when  he  might  have  told  us  so  much, 
concerning  the  personal  qualities,  opinions,  habits,  and  manner 
of  life  of  the  great  personages  with  whom  it  was  his  privilege  to 
become  acquainted.  Indeed,  I  am  quite  sure  that  whoever  reads 
this  book — whatever  defects  he  may  find  in  it — will  sometimes  feel 
that  he  is  a  very  near  and  sympathetic  witness  of  events  and  in- 
cidents which  the  writer  himself  saw  and  has  with  such  distinct- 
ness and  soulfulness  described. 

The  writings  entitled  "Memoirs,"  by  Dr.  Evans  were,  as  left 
by  him,  in  two  parts.  The  first  contained  a  sketch  of  the  politi- 
cal and  military  situation  in  France  and  Germany  that  imme- 
diately preceded  the  Franco-German  War,  together  with  a  very 
full  account  of  the  escape  of  the  Empress  Eugenie  from  Paris, 
and  the  establishment  of  the  Imperial  family  at  Chislehurst,  in 
England.  This  formal  narrative  was  prepared  in  1884,  but  re- 
mained unpublished — principally  from  a  sentiment  of  delicacy  on 
the  part  of  the  writer.  Twelve  years  later,  in  1896 — the  year 
before  his  death — Dr.  Evans  began  to  make  a  record  of  his  remi- 
niscences in  an  autobiographical  form,  but  composed  in  substance 
of  occurrences  and  experiences  personal  to  himself  during  his  life 
as  a  court  dentist,  together  with  numerous  character  sketches 
of  the  distinguished  people  it  had  been  his  good  fortune  to  meet 
and  to  know.  This  record  was  the  second  part  of  the  "Memoirs." 
Unfortunately  no  attempt  had  been  made,  while  preparing  it,  to 
give  to  it  a  literary  form.  The  subjects  were  treated  separately 
and  with  little  regard  to  their  proper  order.  Many  of  the  pages 
contained  merely  notes  or  memoranda;  and,  as  was  inevitable 
under  the  circumstances,  incidents  were  re-told,  and  there  were 
numerous  minor  repetitions,  especially  with  respect  to  matters 
that  had  already  been  set  forth  in  the  first  part.     The  work  of 


PREFACE 


IX 


coordinating  and  assimilating  the  materials  had  been  left  for  a 
more  convenient  season — and,  as  it  has  proved,  for  another  hand 
to  do. 

In  preparing  the  contents  of  the  present  volume  I  have  selected 
from  the  two  parts  the  portions  in  which,  in  my  opinion,  the 
public  is  most  likely  to  be  interested,  and  which  at  the  same  time 
are  of  the  greatest  value  historically.  They  tell  the  story  of  the 
flight  of  the  Empress  from  her  capital,  of  which  no  complete  and 
authentic  account  has  ever  before  been  published,  and  include 
practically  everything  in  the  "Memoirs,"  that  relates  to  the 
Second  French  Empire. 

The  greatest  difficulty  that  I  have  encountered,  in  the  course 
of  my  editorial  work  has  arisen  from  the  necessity  of  suppressing 
one  or  the  other  of  the  repetitions,  or  very  similar  statements 
in  the  parts  referred  to,  and  then,  so  fusing  or,  rather,  stitch- 
ing the  paragraphs  and  sections  together  as  to  give  to  the  whole 
sufficient  continuity  and  unity  to  be  acceptable  to  myself  without 
doing  violence  to  the  original  text.  The  plan  adopted,  and  which 
I  believe  to  be  the  best  in  view  of  the  facts  above  mentioned,  has 
been  to  keep  together,  and  in  the  body  of  this  book,  what  relates 
directly  to  the  Fall  of  the  Empire,  and  to  include  in  the  opening 
and  closing  chapters  most  of  the  author's  more  strictly  personal 
reminiscences  and  appreciations  of  the  Emperor  Napoleon  III.  and 
the  Empress  Eugenie. 

I  certainly  should  feel,  however,  that  I  had  altogether  failed 
to  accomplish  what  I  have  sought  to  do,  were  I  not  aware  that 
it  is  the  generally  conceded  privilege  of  the  writer  of  memoirs  and 
reminiscences  to  remember  only  what  he  chooses  to  remember, 
and  to  say  it  just  when  it  pleases  him  to  say  it.  And  in  according 
with  me  this  liberty  to  the  author,  I  trust  the  reader  may  be 
equally  generous  toward  the  editor  of  this  book,  so  far  as  he 
may  be  disposed  to  hold  him  responsible  for  an  arrangement  of 
its  contents  that  may  occasionally  seem  wanting  in  sequence,  or 
for  a  style  of  writing  that  is  perhaps,  at  times,  a  little  too  decousu. 

But  there  is  one  point  of  more  importance  than  any  question 
of   form  with  respect  to  which  I  have  no  desire  to  disclaim  my 


x  PREFACE 

responsibility.  For  the  accuracy  of  the  narrative  where  it  relates 
to  matters  of  which  I  have  a  personal  knoAvledge — and  they  are 
many — I  hold  myself  equally  responsible  with  the  author.  And 
I  may  also  say  that  I  have  felt  it  to  be  a  part  of  my  editorial  duty 
to  verify  his  statements,,  where  errors  of  fact  seemed  possible, 
whenever  I  could  do  so  conveniently ;  to  compare  with  the  originals 
the  passages  he  has  cited  from  various  writings  and  reports;  to 
name  his  authorities,  when  they  were  not  given  by  him;  and  to 
contribute  a  few  appendices  and  foot  notes,  in  one  or  two  of  which 
I  have  not  hesitated  to  express  my  own  opinion  of  persons  with 
some  freedom. 

Edward  A.  Crane. 

22  Rue  St.  Atjgustin,  Paris. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I 
THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  A  FRIENDSHIP 

PAGE 

How  my  acquaintance  with  Prince  Louis  Napoleon  began — His 
life  at  the  Elysee — The  day  before  the  coup  d'Etat — Dr. 
Conneau  and  Charles  Thelin — The  Emperor's  way  of  bestow- 
ing favors — A  cross  of  the  Legion  of  Honor — A  diamond  pin 
— My  professional  relations  with  the  Emperor —Dentistry  in 
France  in  1847 — The  wife  of  a  dentist — My  position  at  Court 
— "Have  you  nothing  to  ask?" — The  courage  of  the  Emperor 
— The  bombs  of  Orsini — The  Emperor's  generous  nature — 
A  debt  of  honor — A  Dreyfus  case — Francois  Arago — The 
Emperor's  philanthropy — "L'Empereur  des  Ouvriers" — The 
Emperor's  amiability — Abd-el-Kader 1 

CHAPTER     II 

CHARACTER  OF  THE   EMPEROR 

The  mother  of  Louis  Napoleon — The  personal  appearance  of  the 
Emperor — His  love  of  the  country — "He  was  a  wonderful 
landscape  gardener" — He  cared  nothing  for  art  for  art's  sake 
— His  utilitarianism — His  domestic  habits — He  was  an  able 
writer— He  despised  flattery— M.  Duruy— The  Emperor  dis- 
liked circumlocution — He  was  tenacious  of  his  opinions,  but 
slow  to  form  them — The  sources  of  his  information — The 
Burlingame  Mission — The  Emperor's  extreme  caution — An 
illustration — The  Emperor's  wit  and  humor — He  was  a  peace- 
maker— His  imperturbability  no  mask — He  was  a  forcible 
speaker — His  religion — His  pride — His  qualities  the  opposite 

of   our   faults         . 31 

xi 


xii  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  III 
THE  MARRIAGE  OF  THE  EMPEROR 

PAGE 

Louis  Napoleon  is  advised  to  marry — The  Princess  Caroline — 
The  Duchess  of  Hamilton — Ancient  and  modern  Knights — 
The  Duke  of  Hamilton — A  great  surprise — Eugenie  de  Mon- 
tijo ;  her  character,  her  person — The  Emperor  announces 
his  engagement — How  the  announcement  was  received— 
The  marriage  ceremony — My  first  visit  to  the  Empress  at 
the  Tuileries — A  little  incident — The  Empress  does  not  forget 
her  old  friends — Pepa — The  character  of  Eugenie  de  Mon- 
tijo  unchanged  by  her  elevation  to  a  throne — Criticism — The 
fortune  of  the  Imperial  family — The  demands  upon  the  privy 
purse — The  generosity  of  the  Empress — Her  first  act  after 
her  engagement — Her  visits  to  the  cholera  hospitals — "Pious, 
but  not  bigoted  " — Her  public  liberalities — The  house  parties 
at  Compiegne — The  Empress  a  lover  of  the  things  of  the  mind 
— The  Suez  Canal — The  character  of  the  Empress  described 
by  the  Emperor — The  Empress  not  exempt  from  the  defects 
of  her  qualities 66 

CHAPTER    IV 

THE  IMPERIAL  COURT— THE  WAR  OF  THE  REBELLION 

The  Imperial  Court — "Paris  the  heaven  of  Americans" — The 
banquet  to  Gen.  John  A.  Dix — The  American  colony — How 
things  have  changed — Parisian  society  in  those  days — Causes 
of  its  decadence — Its  "exoticism" — Sunt  lacrimce  rerum — 
The  War  of  the  Rebellion — The  Emperor  not  unfriendly  to 
our  Government — Mr.  William  M.  Dayton — How  I  kept  the 
Emperor  informed  with  respect  to  the  progress  of  the  war — 
The  Roebuck  incident — The  Emperor  is  urged  to  recognize 
the  Southern  Confederacy — How  he  came  to  suggest  friendly 
mediation — He  sends  for  me  to  come  to  Compiegne — The 
interview  and  what  came  of  it — My  visit  to  America— Inter- 
views with  Mr.  Lincoln  and  Mr.  Seward — Visit  to  City  Point 
— Conversations  with  General  Grant — His  opinion  of  "politi- 
cal generals" — The  Emperor's  first  words  on  my  return — 
Why  the  Imperial  Government  did  not  recognize  the  Southern 
Confederacy — The  Mexican  Expedition — The  assassination 
of  Mr.  Lincoln — The  United  States  Sanitary  Commission — 
The  Empress's  letter  to  me 105 


CONTENTS  xiii 

CHAPTER   V 

THE  INDUSTRIAL  DEVELOPMENT  OF  FRANCE 

PAGE 

The  importance  of  the  works  of  Napoleon  III. — He  created  modern 
Paris  ;  its  parks  and  water-works  ;  its  public  buildings — Pro- 
vincial cities  reconstructed — Roads  and  railways  extended — 
Credit  institutions  founded — Commercial  treaties  made — 
The  increase  of  capital ;  of  trade — The  interest  of  the  Em- 
peror in  the  lodgings  of  artizans  and  the  sanitation  of  cities — 
What  the  Emperor  did  for  agriculture — His  interest  in  the 
welfare  of  the  industrial  classes — How  he  came  to  the  relief 
of  the  people  at  the  time  of  the  great  inundations — The 
Exposition  of  1867 — A  dreadful  picture  of  moral  corruption 
— The  greatest  work  of  Napoleon  III 143 

CHAPTER   VI 

THE  FRANCO-GERMAN  WAR  OF   1870-71 

A  visit  to  St.  Cloud — The  candidature  of  Prince  Leopold  of  Hohen- 
zollern — The  Duke  de  Gramont — The  Emperor  not  inclined 
to  war — The  opinion  of  the  Empress — The  Emperor's  bad 
counselors — General  Lebceuf — An  incident — Public  feeling — 
I  propose  to  establish  an  ambulance — The  service  it  subse- 
quently rendered — The  declaration  of  war — Enthusiasm  of 
the  people— The  excitement  in  Paris — The  anxiety  of  the 
Emperor — He  felt  that  France  was  not  prepared  for  the  war 
— His  interest  in  the  army— The  condition  sine  qu&  non — 
Words  not  to  be  forgotten — The  departure  of  the  troops — 
The  Empress  is  appointed  Regent — The  Emperor  leaves  St. 
Cloud  for  Metz — Misgivings 159 

CHAPTER   VII 

THE  FRENCH  ARMY— SEDAN  AND   BISMARCK 

The  efforts  of  the  Emperor  to  increase  the  strength  of  the  army 
— His  proposals  are  denounced  by  the  Opposition — Favre — 
Thiers — Magnin — Jules  Simon — State  of  the  army  when  war 
was  declared — On  arriving  at  Metz  the  Emperor  finds  nothing 
ready — Misled   by  incorrect  reports — A   fair  example — The 


xiv  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

situation  becomes  more  and  more  difficult — A  change  of 
commanders — Sedan — A  vivid  account  of  the  battle  written 
by  the  Emperor — Further  resistance  impossible — The  flag  of 
truce — The  letter  of  the  Emperor  to  the  King  of  Prussia — ■ 
De  Wimpfen  meets  Von  Moltke  and  Bismarck  at  Donchery — 
Interview  between  the  Emperor  and  Bismarck  described  by 
Bismarck  in  a  letter  to  the  King  of  Prussia — Two  letters — 
"Conneau'l 194 


CHAPTER   VIII 

THE  FALL  OF  THE  SECOND  EMPIRE 

Effects  in  Paris  of  the  news  of  the  first  reverses — "Nous  sommes 
trains" — The  resignation  of  the  Ministry — General  de  Palikao 
— A  new  Ministry  is  formed — General  Trochu  is  appointed 
Military  Governor — An  unsuccessful  mission — The  announce- 
ment of  the  disaster  of  Sedan — A  Cabinet  Council  is  con- 
voked— General  Trochu  is  requested  to  come  to  the  Palace — 
The  night  of  September  3d  at  the  Tuileries— The  morning  of 
September  4th — The  council  of  Ministers — A  deputation  is 
sent  to  the  Empress — Her  Majesty  is  advised  to  resign — Her 
reply — The  proposition  of  M.  Thiers — The  Palais-Bourbon 
is  invaded  by  the  mob — The  conduct  of  General  Trochu — 
The  Emperor  pronounces  it  "flagrant  treason" — The  simple 
facts — A  pandemonium— The  last  session  of  the  Senate — "I 
yield  to  force". 231 


CHAPTER   IX 

DEPARTURE  OF  THE  EMPRESS  FROM  THE  TUILERIES 

The  invasion  of  the  Tuileries — General  Mellinet  parleys  with  the 
invaders — How  the  palace  was  protected — The  interior  of  the 
Tuileries — The  Empress  waits  in  the  palace  to  hear  from  the 
Assembly — She  is  advised  to  leave — She  hesitates — Prince 
de  Metternich  and  Signor  Nigra — M.  Pietri — The  Empress 
bids  adieu  to  her  friends — She  leaves  the  Tuileries — She  is 
forced  to  return — Quite  by  chance — "The  Wreck  of  the 
Medusa" — "Are  you  afraid?" — "Not  a  bit" — A  curious 
coincidence— "II  jaut  de  I'audace" — "Voila  V  Imperatrice" — 
No  one  at  home — The  Empress  comes  to  my  house      .        .     261 


CONTENTS  xv 

CHAPTER    X 
THE  REVOLUTION— THE   EMPRESS  AT  MY  HOUSE 

PAGE 

The  calm  before  the  storm — Paris  in  revolution — The  Champs 
Elysees— The  Place  de  la  Concorde — The  street  scenes — Some 
reflections — How  certain  things  came  to  pass  without  a  hitch 
— The  funeral  of  Victor  Noir — A  paradox — Concerning  the 
"Republic" — A  race,  and  the  winners — A  strange  letter — 
A  mystery  explained — I  return  to  my  house — Two  ladies  wish 
to  see  me — My  interview  with  the  Empress— An  awkward 
situation — Planning  to  escape  from  Paris — Questions  to  be 
considered — The  plan  finally  agreed  upon — Our  passports — 
The  safety  of  the  Empress  left  to  chance — The  Empress  no 
pessimist — Paris  at  midnight — I  make  a  reconnaissance         .      279 

CHAPTER  XI 

THE  FLIGHT  OF  THE   EMPRESS  FROM  PARIS 

The  departure  from  my  house — How  we  passed  through  the  Porte 
Maillot — A  little  history — The  Empress  talks  freely — The 
French  people — Saint-Germain-en-Laye — On  the  road  to 
Poissy — We  stop  at  the  wine-shop  of  Madame  Fontaine — A 
la  bonne  franquette — We  stop  again  near  Mantes — 0  fortunatos 
agricolas — I  procure  another  carriage  and  fresh  horses — The 
formation  of  the  new  Government  is  reported  to  her  Majesty 
— Her  astonishment  on  hearing  that  General  Trochu  was  the 
President  of  this  Government — Her  comments — Could  she 
no  longer  rely  on  any  one? — The  consequences  of  the  Revo- 
lution in  Paris  not  fully  apprehended  at  the  time — The  Em- 
press discusses  the  situation — Her  courage — Her  patriotism     311 

CHAPTER    XII 

ON  THE  ROAD  TO  THE  COAST 

Pacy-sur-Eure — A  change  of  conveyances — The  "outfit" — A  pro- 
fessional opinion — Evreux — "Vive  la  Republique" — A  tragic 
story — La  Commanderie — Horses  but  no  carriage— An  acci- 
dent—La Riviere  de  Thibouville— A  serious  question — "Le 
Soleil  d'Or" — Diplomacy — "Too  funny  for  anything!" — 
French  peasants — A  night  alarm — Madame  Desrats  and  her 
"cabriolet" — "My  carriage  is  at  your  disposal" — A  railway 
trip — A  miserable  morning — I  go  for  a  carriage — A  polite  clerk 
— A  striking  contrast — The  last  stage  of  our  journey — Pont 
l'Eveque— Another  coincidence 335 


xvi  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER   XIII 
DEAUVILLE— THE  EMBARKATION 


PAGE 


Deauville — Precautions — Looking  for  a  boat  in  which  to  cross 
the  Channel — Interview  with  Sir  John  Burgoyne — Lady  Bur- 
goyne — Dinner  at  the  Hotel  du  Casino — A  small  gold  locket 
— I  meet  Sir  John  Burgoyne  on  the  quay — Her  Majesty 
leaves  the  H6tel  du  Casino— A  wild  night — The  strangeness 
of  the  situation — Contrasts — On  board  the  Gazelle — Dr. 
Crane  returns  to  Paris 361 

CHAPTER  XIV 

THE  MEETING  BETWEEN  MOTHER  AND  SON 

We  leave  the  harbor — Rough  weather — In  a  gale — We  reach 
Ryde  Roads — The  landing — At  the  York  Hotel — News  of  the 
Prince  Imperial — The  Empress  and  the  Bible — We  go  to 
Brighton — The  Empress  hears  that  the  Prince  Imperial  is  at 
Hastings — She  insists  on  going  there — A  vain  device — We 
arrive  at  Hastings — I  go  to  the  Marine  Hotel  and  find  the 
Prince — My  plan  for  a  meeting  between  mother  and  son — The 
Empress  cannot  wait — The  way  barred — The  Prince  in  the 
presence  of  his  mother — Tears  of  joy  and  of  sorrow — The 
Empress  and  the  Prince  Imperial  remain  in  Hastings — 
House-hunting — Mrs.  Evans  comes  to  England — Miss  Shaw 
— Camden  Place — Negotiations— Camden  Place  is  rented — 
"A  spirited  horse,  perfectly  safe" — Her  Majesty  leaves  Hast- 
ings—She takes  possession  of  her  new  home — The  first  night 
at  Chislehurst — The  first  act  of  the  Empress  next  day — A 
tragic  story — Conversations  with  the  Empress       .       .       .     379 

CHAPTER   XV 

I  VISIT  THE  EMPEROR— DIPLOMACY 

I  leave  England — Queen  Augusta — The  prison  and  the  prisoner 
— "The  courtesy  of  the  age" — My  visit  to  the  Emperor  at 
Wilhelmshohe — I  visit  the  prison  camps  and  hospitals — My 
return  to  England — France  now  isolated — The  promise  of  the 
Czar — The  Empress  endeavors  to  limit  the  consequences  of 
the  French  military  disasters — She  writes  to  the  Emperor 
Alexander — She  intercedes  on  behalf  of  the  Republican  Min- 
ister for  Foreign  Affairs — Count  Bismarck  is  embarrassed — 
Diplomatic  notes 412 


CONTENTS  xvii 

CHAPTER  XVI 
INTRIGUES  AND  MORE  DIPLOMACY 

PAGE 

The  mysterious  M.  Regnier — His  interviews  with  Bismarck — The 
situation  at  Metz — -M.  Regnier  is  received  by  Marshal  Bazaine 
— General  Bourbaki  leaves  for  Chislehurst — The  Empress  is 
astonished — She  tries  once  more  to  obtain  peace  on  favorable 
terms — She  writes  to  her  friend  Francis  Joseph— The  memo- 
randum of  the  Emperor — General  Boyer  is  sent  to  the  German 
head-quarters — His  interviews  with  Count  Bismarck — The 
French  army  makes  no  "pronunciamentos" — A  council  of 
war  at  Metz — "The  only  means  of  salvation" — General  Boyer 
goes  to  Chislehurst — The  Council  at  Camden  Place — The 
Empress  declares  that  she  will  never  sign  a  treaty  of  peace  in 
ignorance  of  its  terms— Her  letter  to  General  Boyer — A  lesson 
never  forgotten — The  Alliance  with  Italy — The  political  ideas 
and  sympathies  of  the  Empress — An  interesting  incident— Her 
letters  to  the  Emperor,  written  in  October,  1869 — A  letter 
written  in  October,  1896 — Justice  will  be  done     .        .        .     431 

CHAPTER  XVII 

THE  END  OF  THE  WAR— THE  COMMUNE 

I  return  to  France — The  suffering  among  the  French  prisoners — 
The  Clothing  Society — I  engage  in  relief  work — Hostes  dum 
vulnerati  jratres — -The  fellow-feeling  produced  by  suffering 
shared  in  common — The  end  of  the  war — A  National  Assembly 
— The  humiliating  peace — The  Emperor  arrives  in  England 
— The  Sedan  of  the  Government  of  the  National  Defense — 
Mrs.  Evans  and  I  visit  the  Emperor  and  Empress  at  Camden 
Place — The  admirable  resignation  of  the  Emperor — His  inter- 
est in  the  education  of  the  Prince  Imperial — Mrs.  Evans  and 
I  return  to  Paris — The  aspect  of  the  city 458 

CHAPTER   XVIII 

DEATH    OF  THE  EMPEROR 

The  visitors  to  Camden  Place — November  15,  1871 — The  Em- 
peror's health — His  last  photograph — Surgical  advice  is 
sought — A  consultation  is  held — A  statement  contradicted — 
The  operation — The  death  of  the  Emperor — The  impression  it 
produced  in  Paris  and  in  London — Messages  of  condolence — 
The  immediate  cause  of  the  Emperor's  death — His  funeral — 

"Vive  Napoleon  IV." 485 

2 


xvm  CONTENTS 

APPENDICES 

PAQB 

I.    A  Letter  from  the  Princess  Josephine  to  Napoleon  III.  509 

II.    The  Family  of  the  Empress 510 

III.  The  Emperor's  Fortune 513 

IV.  Speech  of  Lord  Brougham 514 

V.    The  Falsified  Despatch 517 

VI.    Concerning  the  Reorganization  of  the  Army   .        .  520 

VII.    The  Loyalty  of  General  Trochu           ....  522 
VIII.    Extracts    from    Official    Reports    of    the    French 

Government 523 

IX.    The  Emperor's  Responsibility 526 


LIST   OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


FACING 
PAGE 

The  Emperor  Napoleon  III Frontispiece 

From  an  engraving  of  the  portrait  by  Cabanel. 

Dr.  Thomas  W.  Evans 1 

From  a  photograph  by  Ch.  Reutlinger  taken  about  1875. 

Mademoiselle  Eugenie — Comtesse  de  Teba 74 

From  a  photograph  taken  in  1852. 

The  Empress  Eugenie 106 

From  a  photograph  taken  about  1865. 

General  Reille  Presenting  to  King   William  the   Letter  of 

Napoleon  III 218 

From  a  photograph  of  the  painting  by  A.  von  Werner. 

Napoleon  III 228 

From  his  last  photograph  taken  by  W.  and  D.  Downey  in  1872. 

The  Empress  Eugenie 246 

From  a  photograph  taken  by  W.  and  D.  Downey  in  1871. 

The  Empress  and  Madame  Lebreton  at  Dr.  Evans's  House     .  294 

Pacy-sur-Eure— 4  Change  of  Conveyances         ....  332 

Cambolle — Vive  la  Republique 338 

Le  Soleil  d'Or — La  Riviere  de  Tiiibouville       ....    342 

xix 


xx  LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 

FACING 
PAGE 

The  Porte  Cochere  at  Lisieux 354 

Deaoville — The  Empress  and  Dr.  Evans  Leaving  the  Hotel 

du  Casino 372 

Camden  Place 398 

The  Ruins  of  the  Tuileries 480 

The  Prince  Imperial ,    502 

From  a  photograph  taken  by  Elliott  and  Fry  in  187b. 


DR.   THOMAS  W.    EVANS. 
From  a  photograph  by  Ch.  Reutlinger  taken  about  1875. 


THE   SECOND   FRENCH    EMPIRE 


CHAPTER    I 

THE   BEGINNINGS   OF   A   FRIENDSHIP 

How  my  acquaintance  with  Prince  Louis  Napoleon  began — His  life  at 
the  Elys6e — The  day  before  the  coup  d'Etat — Dr.  Conneau  and 
Charles  Th61in — The  Emperor's  way  of  bestowing  favors — A  cross 
of  the  Legion  of  Honor — A  diamond  pin — -My  professional  rela- 
tions with  the  Emperor — Dentistry  in  France  in  1847 — The  wife  of 
a  dentist — My  position  at  Court — "Have  you  nothing  to  ask?" — 
The  courage  of  the  Emperor — The  bombs  of  Orsini — The  Em- 
peror's generous  nature — A  debt  of  honor— A  Dreyfus  case — 
Francois  Arago — The  Emperor's  philanthropy — "  L'Empereur  des 
Ouvriers  " — The   Emperor's   amiability — Abd-el-Kader. 

jN  November,  1847,  I  came  to  Paris  with  my  wife, 
having  accepted  an  invitation  from  Cyrus  S. 
Brewster,  an  American  dentist  of  repute  then 
living  in  Paris,  to  associate  myself  with  him 
professionally. 

In  France  everything  was  then  quiet.  M.  Guizot,  the 
Prime  Minister,  ruled  the  country  with  an  authority  that 
was  absolute.  The  politicians,  of  course,  were,  some  of 
them,  clamoring  for  "  Reform,"  and  all  of  them  playing 
the  eternal  game  of  seesaw  on  every  question  of  public 
concern  that  might  serve  their  personal  or  party  interests. 
But  the  people  were  apparently  uninterested  or  asleep. 
It  seems  that  they  were  just  on  the  point  of  waking  up. 
Three  months  later,  in  February,  1848,  the  Tuileries  were 
invaded  by  the  Paris  mob,  and  Louis  Philippe,  having  cut 

1 


o 


THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 


off  his  whiskers,  under  the  cover  of  an  old  hat  and  a  shabby 
coat,  made  his  escape  from  the  palace.  The  Republic  was 
now  proclaimed  and  the  march  of  events  was  rapid — the 
opening  of  National  workshops,  the  election  to  the  Con- 
stituent Assembly  in  April;  and  then  the  barricades  and 
the  bloody  days  of  June,  with  the  shootings  and  transpor- 
tations of  the  apostles  of  Communism — in  rehearsal  for  the 
final  scene  in  the  great  drama  of  1871. 

On  the  23d  of  September,  1848,  Prince  Louis  Napoleon, 
having  been  elected  a  member  of  the  National  Assembly, 
left  London,  and  the  following  day  arrived  in  Paris.  Less 
than  three  months  afterward  he  was  elected  President  of 
the  French  Republic,  and  established  his  residence  at  the 
Palace  of  the  Elysee  in  the  Faubourg  St.  Honore,  where 
he  remained  until  the  24th  of  February,  1852,  when  he  re- 
moved to  the  Tuileries,  and  occupied  the  apartments  from 
which  Louis  Philippe  had  fled,  exactly  four  years  before — 
on  the  24th  of  February,  1848. 

My  acquaintance  with  the  Prince  began  very  soon  after 
he  came  to  Paris.  He  had  not  been  long  at  the  Elysee 
when  he  sent  a  message  to  Dr.  Brewster,  stating  that  he 
would  like  to  have  him  come  to  the  palace,  if  convenient, 
as  he  had  need  of  his  services.  It  so  happened,  when 
the  message  came,  that  Dr.  Brewster  was  ill  and  unable 
to  respond  to  this  call  himself.  It  fell  to  me,  therefore, 
by  good  fortune,  to  take  his  place  professionally,  and  to 
visit  the  Prince.  And  there  it  was,  at  the  Elysee,  that  I 
first  saw  him. 

He  received  me  very  kindly,  without  the  least  intimation 
that  he  had  expected  to  see  someone  else,  so  that  I  soon 
felt  entirely  at  my  ease.  I  found  that  a  slight  operation  was 
necessary,  which,  when  made,  gave  him  great  relief.  On 
my  leaving,  the  Prince  thanked  me  most  cordially,  com- 
mended me  for  the  "  gentleness  "  of  my  manner  of  opera- 
ting, and  expressed  a  wish  to  see  me  the  next  day.     I 


THE    BEGINNINGS    OF    A    FRIENDSHIP       3 

then  saw  him  again,  professionally ;  and,  from  that  time, 
up  to  the  day  of  his  death,  I  visited  him  often — sometimes 
as  often  as  twice  a  week ;  for  the  relations  between  us  were 
not  entirely  of  a  professional  nature,  having  very  soon  be- 
come friendly,  and  confidential  even. 

During  his  residence  at  the  Ely  see,  I  was,  on  several 
occasions,  invited  to  come  in  the  evening  and  take  tea  with 
him,  and  some  of  his  intimate  associates,  at  a  house  in  the 
Rue  du  Cirque,  where  he  was  a  frequent  visitor.  This  house, 

in  which  Madame  H lived,  was  to  him  easy  of  access 

— a  gate  in  the  wall,  enclosing  the  garden  of  the  palace, 
opening  on  the  street  close  to  the  house.  There,  free  from 
the  restraint  of  official  surroundings,  the  Prince-President 
loved  to  take  a  cup  of  tea,  or  to  sit  during  the  whole 
evening  sipping  a  cup  of  coffee,  or  smoking  a  cigarette,  his 
black  dog,  a  great  favorite  with  him,  sometimes  at  his  feet 
and  sometimes  on  his  knee. 

An  excellent  listener  to  the  conversation  of  others — it 
was  with  the  greatest  interest  that  we  all  listened  to  him, 
when  he  chose  to  speak.  However  light  the  subject,  his 
remarks  were  never  commonplace,  but  were  often  weighty 
and  always  bore  the  impress  of  originality.  There  were 
times  when  he  exhibited  rare  powers  of  description  and 
a  delicate  but  lively  appreciation  of  the  humorous  side  of 
things;  and  other  times — the  subject  moving  him — when 
his  earnest  and  kindly  words  and  the  sympathetic  tones 
of  his  voice  were  irresistibly  seductive,  and  we — hardly 
knowing  why,  whether  we  were  captivated  by  the  person- 
ality of  the  speaker  or  surprised  at  the  height  to  which 
he  carried  his  argument — in  wondering  admiration  sat  in 
silence  under  the  spell  of  the  Charmer.  He  talked  with  the 
utmost  freedom  of  his  past  life  in  Germany,  in  Switzer- 
land, in  Italy,  in  England;  of  Napoleon  and  of  govern- 
ment in  general;  but  spoke  rarely  and  with  more  reserve 
about  the  French  politics  of  the  day.  And  he  liked  to 
hear  others  talk  of  their  own  lives,  of  the  subjects  that 


4  THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

personally  interested  them,  of  their  occupations  and  amuse- 
ments during  the  day,  and  to  have  the  conversation  go  on 
as  if  in  a  family  circle,  without  the  restraints  of  etiquette. 
He  also  liked,  on  these  occasions,  to  listen  to  simple  music — 
at  the  same  time  admitting  that  music  in  general  he  did  not 
like.  He  seemed  to  seek  the  satisfactions  of  a  home,  and  the 
pleasure  of  being  surrounded  by  a  few  but  intimate  friends. 
Madame  Henriette,  as  she  was  called  familiarly,  had  living 
with  her  no  family  or  relative  except  a  sister — a  most 
beautiful  creature,  artless  but  full  of  grace,  whose  head 
was  one  of  the  finest  I  ever  saw  on  a  woman's  shoulders. 
As  Madame  de  Sevigne  said  of  Mademoiselle  de  Grignan, 
she  was  une  creature  choisie  et  distinguee.  Here  I  met 
MM.  Fleury,  Persigny,  Mocquard,  Edgar  Ney,  and  some 
others.  But  only  a  very  few  of  the  persons  in  the  entour- 
age of  the  Prince  were  ever  invited  into  this  little  society. 

The  relations  of  the  Prince  to  the  beautiful  and  devoted 

Madame  H have  been  a  subject  of  censure  and  even  of 

scandal.  The  irregularity  of  the  situation  he  himself  rec- 
ognized ;  but  he  was  too  kind-hearted  to  break  away  from 
it  without  some  strong  and  special  motive.  And  then,  to 
use  his  own  words : 

"  Since,  up  to  the  present  time,  my  position  has  pre- 
vented me  from  getting  married;  since  in  the  midst  of  all 
the  cares  of  the  Government  I  have,  unfortunately,  in  my 
country  from  which  I  have  been  so  long  absent,  neither  inti- 
mate friends  nor  the  attachments  of  childhood,  nor  rela- 
tives to  give  me  the  comforts  of  a  home,  I  think  I  can  be 
pardoned  an  affection  that  harms  no  one,  and  which  I  have 
never  sought  to  make  public."* 

I  was,  at  first,  asked  by  the  Prince  to  go  to  this  house 

for  the  purpose  of  seeing  Madame  H professionally,  he 

remarking  to  me  that  he  would  consider  it  a  favor  if  I 
would  do  so,  since  were  she  to  go  to  my  office,  her  pres- 

*  M.  Odilon  Barrot  "  Memoirs,"  tome  iii.,  p.  361. 


THE    BEGINNINGS    OF    A    FRIENDSHIP       5 

ence  there  might  give  rise  to  comment.  Thus  it  happened 
that  subsequently  I  became  one  of  Madame  H 's  occa- 
sional evening  visitors  as  well  as  her  professional  adviser. 

The  Prince  was  very  fond  of  walking  in  the  morning 
in  the  grounds  of  the  Elysee  palace,  sometimes  alone,  but 
more  frequently  with  Fleury  or  Persigny  or  some  other 
member  of  his  official  household.  Several  times,  when  he 
had  something  special  to  say  to  me,  or  inquiries  to  make, 
he  invited  me  to  take  a  turn  with  him  in  the  garden,  usu- 
ally speaking  in  English,  for  he  liked  to  talk  in  English 
whenever  he  could;  and  it  often  served  him  well  when  he 
wished  to  converse  and  did  not  care  to  have  some  one,  who 
might  be  near  him,  understand^  what  was  said.  It  was 
during  this  quiet  life  at  the  Elysee  that  our  relations 
became  intimate  and  that  a  lasting  friendship  was  formed. 

At  this  time — while  President  of  the  Republic — the 
Prince  had  few  intimate  friends,  and  but  very  few  acquaint- 
ances. A  stranger  to  the  French  people  when  he  came  to 
Paris,  he  did  not  seek  at  once  to  make  new  acquaintances ; 
moreover  his  power  as  President  being  limited,  and  gen- 
erally supposed  to  be  temporary,  did  not  attract  to  the 
Elysee  a  crowd  of  interested  friends — supplicants  for  fa- 
vors. If  he  was  sometimes  oppressed  with  a  sense  of  politi- 
cal isolation  and  loneliness,  and  more  than  once  was  heard 
to  say  sadly,  ' '  I  do  not  know  my  friends,  and  my  friends 
do  not  know  me,"  it  was  not  without  its  compensations, 
among  which  the  greatest  was  the  liberty  it  gave  him  to 
form  his  own  friendships,  or,  perhaps  rather,  the  opportu- 
nity it  afforded  him  to  watch  dispassionately  the  drift  of 
public  opinion  in  France,  and  discover  the  means  of  reali- 
zing les  idees  Napoleoniennes — the  supreme  object  of  his 
ambition.  For  it  was  in  the  seclusion  of  his  Cabinet  de 
travail — his  study— that  he  always  seemed  to  take  his 
greatest  pleasure. 

These  were  happy  days  for  the  Prince.     He  had  at- 
tained, at  least  in  part,  to  what  he  had  always  believed 


6  THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

would  come — that  he  would  be  called  upon  to  rule  in  one 
way  or  another,  as  his  uncle  did,  the  French  people.  To 
him  I  am  positive  this  was  a  certainty,  the  realization  of 
which  he  considered  to  be  only  a  question  of  time.  It 
never  seemed  in  any  way  to  surprise  him  that  events 
had  so  shaped  his  career  as  to  bring  him  where  he  was  at 
the  moment;  and  it  was  his  calm  belief,  at  this  time,  that 
his  increasing  popularity  and  power  were  only  a  part  of 
that  of  which  he  was  also  sure  to  see  the  accomplishment. 
If  he  referred  to  the  significant  or  exciting  political  events 
of  the  day,  it  was  with  quiet  ease,  never  himself  excited, 
never  complaining,  avoiding  exaggeration,  and  never  show- 
ing the  slightest  anxiety  or  personal  concern. 

This  countenance  of  extreme  placidity  which  the  Prince 
always  wore,  seems  to  me  now,  if  it  did  not  at  the  time, 
all  the  more  remarkable  when  I  remember  the  unsettled 
and  very  stormy  political  situation  in  France  during  the 
years  of  his  Presidency — the  extraordinary  violence  of 
the  Socialists  and  Red  Republicans — the  revolutionary 
manifestations  in  the  streets  of  Paris,  Marseilles,  and 
Lyons;  and,  finally,  the  reaction  and  the  plots  against 
his  Government  laid  by  the  powerful  Royalist  combination 
in  the  Legislative  Assembly. 

On  the  morning  preceding  the  night  of  the  coup  d'Etat, 
I  was  sent  for  to  see  the  Prince  at  the  Elysee.  I  noticed 
that  his  manner  and  conversation  were  more  than  ordinar- 
ily affectionate.  There  were  moments  when  he  appeared 
to  be  thoughtful,  as  if  there  was  something  on  his  mind 
that  he  wished  to  speak  about,  and  yet  did  not.  When 
I  was  leaving,  he  went  with  me  to  the  door  of  his  study, 
where  I  had  been  conversing  with  him,  and  then,  placing 
his  arm  within  my  own,  walked  with  me  through  the  ad- 
joining room.  He  knew  that  great  events  were  about  to 
happen,  but  this  knowledge  did  not  ruffle  his  serenity  or 
change  in  the  least  the  suavity  of  his  voice  or  the  complai- 
sance of  his  address.     That  evening  there  was  a  reception 


THE   BEGINNINGS   OF   A   FRIENDSHIP       7 

at  the  palace,  and  a  crowd  of  people,  his  cousin,  the  Duch- 
ess of  Hamilton,  being  present  among  the  rest.  No  one 
had  the  slightest  suspicion  of  the  blow  that  was  soon  to 
fall;  but  just  as  the  duchess,  with  whom  the  Prince  was 
talking,  was  about  to  leave,  he  said  to  her  in  the  very- 
quietest  way,  as  he  gave  her  his  hand,  with  a  kindly  smile, 
'  Mary,  think  of  me  to-night."  Something  in  the  tone 
of  his  voice,  rather  than  the  words,  impressed  her  strongly. 
What  could  he  mean?  The  next  morning,  when  the  duch- 
ess awoke,  she  learned  what  was  in  the  mind  of  the  Prince 
when  he  bade  her  good  night,  and  was  amazed  at  his  ex- 
traordinary self-control,  his  seeming  impassiveness,  and  the 
gentleness  of  his  manner  at  such  a  critical,  decisive  moment 
in  his  career. 

And  this  manner  never  changed.  Whether  Prince- 
President,  or  Emperor,  in  victory  or  defeat,  he  was  always 
the  same;  and  he  was  also  the  same  in  all  his  relations 
and  intercourse  with  men,  both  in  official  and  private  life. 
In  return,  every  one  who  knew  him  personally,  was  drawn 
towards  him  by  a  strong  sentiment  of  sympathy  and  affec- 
tion. The  devotion  of  his  followers  after  the  affairs  of 
Strasbourg  and  Boulogne  bears  witness  to  this.  In  those 
early  days,  all  who  knew  him  intimately  wished  to  follow 
him. 

The  two  persons  who  stood  nearest  to  him  and  who 
were  attached  to  him  the  longest,  were  Dr.  Conneau  and 
Charles  Thelin.  Conneau  was  a  protege  of  his  mother, 
Queen  Hortense,  who,  on  her  death-bed,  made  him  promise 
never  to  forsake  her  son — a  promise  he  observed  with  the 
most  pious  fidelity.  Thelin  was  in  the  domestic  service  of 
the  Queen;  he  was  at  first  Prince  Louis'  valet,  afterward 
a  head  servant,  and,  finally,  the  treasurer  of  the  Imperial 
privy  purse.  Not  only  were  these  two  men  devoted  to  the 
interests  of  the  Prince,  but  they  continued  to  be  faithful 
and  unselfish  in  ways  that  are  rare.  When  the  Prince  be- 
came    Emperor — and    their     positions    were    necessarily 


8  THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

changed,  having  everything  at  their  command  if  they  had 
wished  it — they  showed  no  ambition  to  be  anything  more 
than  the  true  friends  of  their  early  companion  and  master. 

Dr.  Conneau  desired  nothing  better  than  to  be,  as  he 
had  been  of  old,  the  confidant  of  his  inmost  thoughts.  He 
opened  and  read  his  letters.  He  also  read  the  despatches, 
as  well  as  articles  from  the  newspapers,  which  were  sent  to 
his  Majesty  from  the  Ministry  of  Foreign  Affairs;  for  at 
that  Ministry  there  were  secretaries  whose  business  it  was 
to  read  the  different  English,  Spanish,  and  Italian  news- 
papers— in  fact,  to  examine  all  the  principal  papers  from 
foreign  countries,  and  prepare  a  resume  of  their  contents 
for  the  Emperor's  use.  Dr.  Conneau  was  often  the  one  to 
see  these  summaries  first  and  read  them  to  his  Majesty,  us- 
ing his  own  discretion  and  passing  over  unimportant  mat- 
ters. He  was  also  entrusted  with  the  distribution  of  the 
Emperor's  private  charities-,  and  for  this  purpose  from 
fifty  to  one  hundred  thousand  francs  were  placed  in  his 
hands  every  month.  Dr.  Conneau  held  the  official  position 
of  principal  physician  attached  to  the  Emperor's  person; 
but  the  Emperor  regarded  him  as  his  fidus  Achates. 

"  Charles,"  as  he  was  always  called,  enjoyed  the  Em- 
peror's confidence  in  an  equal  degree.  Dr.  Conneau  and 
Charles  Thelin  had  been  with  the  Emperor  almost  con- 
stantly for  so  many  years,  in  the  same  countries,  that  they 
had  learned  to  speak  the  same  languages  that  he  did,  and 
had  acquired  many  of  his  habits.  I  was  often  struck  with 
the  similarity  even  in  the  voices  of  these  persons,  especially 
in  the  softness  of  their  tones,  and  with  the  quiet  simplicity 
of  each  in  speaking,  at  all  times.  Indeed,  they  grew  to  be 
very  much  alike  in  many  things.  The  Emperor  never  had 
any  thought  of  his  own  private  interests  or  of  increasing 
his  personal  fortune ;  and  the  same  indifference  was  shown  * 
by  Dr.  Conneau  and  Charles  Thelin ;  for,  with  all  kinds  of 
opportunities  to  grow  rich,  by  taking  advantage  of  their 
knowledge  of  impending  war  or  peace,  the  laying  out  of 


THE    BEGINNINGS    OF   A   FRIENDSHIP       9 

new  streets — in  a  word,  of  a  thousand  things  that  would 
make  the  Stock  Exchange,  or  values,  go  up  or  down — at  the 
end  of  the  Empire  they  were  left  penniless,  having  lived  on 
their  modest  salaries  from  the  very  first  day  they  entered 
into  the  service  of  Prince  Louis,  devoted  to  their  special 
duties,  and  without  a  thought  of  accumulating  wealth. 

Not  long  after  the  Emperor's  death  Dr.  Conneau  came 
to  see  me.  He  told  me  the  only  thing  he  possessed  in  the 
world  was  a  collection  of  Bibles — in  several  hundred  lan- 
guages or  dialects,  including  some  rare  copies — which  then 
lay  in  a  heap  on  the  floor  of  a  stable,  as  he  no  longer  had  a 
place  of  his  own  in  which  to  keep  them.  He  said  it  grieved 
him  greatly  to  part  with  this  collection,  the  making  of 
which  had  given  him  so  much  pleasure;  but  that  it  dis- 
tressed him  still  more  to  see  it  treated  as  it  had  been  and 
in  danger  of  being  destroyed ;  and  that  I  would  render  him 
a  great  service  if  I  would  take  it  off  his  hands  and  save  it. 
This  I  at  once  agreed  to  do.  And  when  the  tears  came  into 
the  eyes  of  the  kindly  old  man  I  felt  in  my  own  heart  that 
it  was  a  blessed  thing  indeed  to  be  able  to  help  a  friend  in 
time  of  need. 

The  Emperor  had  an  exquisite  way  of  bestowing 
favors.  When  he  made  a  present,  he  often  gave  it  the  ap- 
pearance of  paying  a  debt. 

On  one  occasion  which  I  remember,  he  engaged  a  young 
man  to  make  some  researches  for  a  literary  work  he  was 
interested  in.  The  young  man  was  to  have  a  certain 
sum  paid  to  him,  monthly,  in  advance.  The  next  day 
the  Emperor  handed  him  double  the  sum  that  had  been 
fixed  upon.  Thinking  a  mistake  had  been  made,  he  said, 
'  Sire,  you  have  given  me  too  much. "  "  Oh,  no, ' '  replied 
the  Emperor;  "  you  forget  that  you  began  your  services 
yesterday — a  month  ago."  This  was  his  way  of  disguising 
a  gift. 

After  living  in  Paris  a  number  of  years,  wishing  to 


10  THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

go  to  the  United  States,  I  informed  his  Majesty  that  it 
was  my  intention  to  return  home  soon  to  see  my  family 
and  country.  I  had  a  strong  attachment  to  the  relatives 
and  friends  I  had  left  in  America,  and,  more  especially, 
I  wished  to  see  my  mother,  as  she  was  advancing  in  years, 
and  I  told  him  that  I  felt  it  a  duty  to  go  to  her.  He 
said  he  perfectly  understood  my  wish  to  return  home  and 
my  strong  desire  to  see  my  mother,  and  that  he  was  glad 
I  felt  as  I  did.  He  then  asked  me  when  I  proposed  go- 
ing. On  my  telling  him  the  date  of  sailing  I  had  fixed  upon, 
he  said,  "  Come  and  see  me  again  before  you  go  " — naming 
a  day.  As  he  was  at  the  Palace  of  Saint  Cloud,  I  was  to 
go  there.  Upon  my  arrival  at  the  time  appointed,  he  re- 
ceived me  in  the  room  which  he  occupied  as  a  study,  on 
the  floor  below  the  apartments  of  the  Empress.  After  some 
conversation,  he  led  me  up  the  private  staircase  and  opened 
the  door  into  the  first  room,  which  was  a  boudoir,  or  ante- 
chamber, giving  access  to  her  Majesty's  apartments.  Im- 
mediately upon  my  entering  this  room  with  him,  for  the 
purpose  of  saying,  as  he  said,  good-by  to  the  Empress,  he 
took  from  the  table  a  case  containing  the  cross  of  a  Knight 
of  the  Legion  of  Honor,  and,  as  I  stood  before  him,  he 
fixed  the  cross  to  the  lapel  of  my  coat,  saying,  ' '  We  want 
you  to  go  home  a  Knight. ' '  He  then  opened  the  door  lead- 
ing into  the  room  where  the  Empress  was,  and  said,  as  she 
came  forward :  ' '  The  Empress  wishes  to  be  the  first  to  con- 
gratulate the  Chevalier  ";  and  he  added:  "  I  hope  your 
friends  in  America  will  understand  how  much  you  are  ap- 
preciated by  us.  You  will  promise  us  to  come  back  again, 
won't  you?  "  This  was  said  in  that  tone  of  voice  and  with 
an  expression  in  his  eyes,  full  of  kindness  and  goodness, 
which  it  is  quite  impossible  to  describe.  His  manner  under 
such  circumstances  was  really  irresistible;  I  had  many  oc- 
casions to  feel  its  charm. 

I  have  sometimes  thought  that  the  Emperor  owed  his 
singular  power  of  winning  the   esteem   and   affection   of 


THE    BEGINNINGS    OF    A    FRIENDSHIP     11 

those  with  whom  he  had  spoken,  although  but  once,  to  the 
softness  of  his  voice  and  to  a  peculiar  hesitancy  of  man- 
ner— especially  when  opening  a  conversation — which  might 
be  taken  for  diffidence,  the  most  delicate  form  of  flattery 
that  one  man  can  offer  to  another. 

When  misfortunes  befell  his  friends,  or  bereavements 
came  to  those  who  were  near  to  him,  the  Emperor  never 
failed  to  console  them  with  kind  words  or  to  remember 
them  by  acts  of  gracious  consideration. 

On  the  occasion  of  the  loss  of  the  steamer  Arctic,  in 
the  autumn  of  1854 — when  my  wife  and  I  were  informed 
that  a  dear  sister  and  her  husband  and  child,  who  were 
returning  to  New  York  from  a  visit  they  had  paid  us,  had 
all  three  perished — the  Emperor,  and  the  Empress  also, 
expressed  for  us  their  deepest  sympathy. 

One  morning  the  Emperor  said  to  me,  after  referring 
to  this  painful  event,  that  he  wished  to  give  me,  as  a  token 
of  his  regard,  a  keepsake  that  I  might  perhaps  doubly 
esteem.  He  then  handed  to  me  a  case  within  which  he 
said  there  was  a  diamond  that  had  been  taken  from  the 
hilt  of  a  sword  which  had  belonged  to  his  uncle,  Napoleon, 
and  had  been  worn  by  him,  and  which  he  had  caused  to 
be  reset  in  a  scarf-pin. 

This  pin  I  rarely  wore,  for  the  diamond  was  not  only  a 
remarkably  fine  one,  but  I  prized  it  highly  as  a  souvenir  and 
and  was  afraid  of  losing  it.  When,  in  April,  1855,  the 
Emperor  and  Empress  went  to  England  to  visit  the  Queen, 
Mrs.  Evans  and  I  also  went  to  London,  where  we  occupied 
rooms  at  Fenton's  Hotel,  St.  James's  Street.  The  day 
after  our  arrival,  having  occasion  to  be  present  at  a  royal 
function,  I  decided  to  wear  the  beautiful  pin  I  had  brought 
with  me.  And  this  I  did.  But,  either  before  I  left  the 
hotel  or  after  my  return,  I  met  an  American  gentleman 
who  was  stopping  in  the  house,  with  whom  I  probably 
had  some  conversation  concerning  the  diamond  pin,  al- 
though at  the  time  the  conversation  seemed  so  insignifi- 


12  THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

cant  that  I  could  never  recall  it.  I  have  always  believed, 
however,  that  he  related  the  history  of  the  jewel — perhaps 
in  the  coffee-room.  On  going  to  my  room  to  change  my 
dress,  I  placed  the  pin  in  its  ecran,  or  case,  and,  rolling  this 
up  very  carefully,  together  with  some  French  paper  money, 
in  several  pocket-handkerchiefs,  stowed  the  package  at  the 
bottom  of  my  satchel.  A  few  days  later  I  returned  to  the 
Continent  by  the  way  of  Belgium  and  Holland.  On  ar- 
riving at  The  Hague  I  took  the  package  from  the  satchel, 
opened  the  case,  and  found  within  it — nothing.  The  money 
had  not  been  taken,  neither  had  some  jewels  that  my  wife 
had  put  in  the  satchel,  but  the  diamond  pin  had  vanished. 
The  mystery  of  its  disappearance  has  never  been  solved. 
That  it  was  stolen  I  have  no  doubt.  I  am  also  convinced 
that  its  historical  character  was  not  foreign  to  the  theft. 

Being  extremely  anxious  to  recover  the  pin,  I  reported 
my  loss  to  the  police,  and  caused  an  active  search  to  be 
made  for  it,  and  for  the  thief;  but  the  search  was  of  no 
avail.  Nothing  was  ever  heard  of  the  pin,  or  how  it  disap- 
peared. I  felt  so  badly  about  it  that  I  never  spoke  to  the 
Emperor  of  my  loss.  Years  passed,  and  the  loss  of  the  dia- 
mond pin  had  ceased  to  trouble  me. 

One  morning  in  the  month  of  May,  1859,  a  day  or  two 
before  the  Emperor  was  to  leave  Paris  for  the  seat  of  war 
in  Northern  Italy,  he  sent  for  me  to  come  and  see  him. 
On  being  introduced  into  his  presence,  I  found  him  sitting 
before  his  toilet-table.  Without  changing  his  position,  he 
began  to  speak  at  once  of  the  campaign  he  was  about  to 
engage  in,  and  of  other  matters,  when,  suddenly  turning 
partly  round  and  looking  me  directly  in  the  face,  he  said : 
"  And  so  you  lost  the  diamond  pin  I  gave  you?  ' 

' '  Yes,  Sire, ' '  I  replied ;  and,  greatly  confused,  I  was 
about  to  make  some  wretched  apology  for  never  having 
spoken  of  it  to  him,  when  he  said : 

"  I  knew  it  had  been  stolen  from  you,  but  it  has  been 
found  "—taking  at  the  same  time  from  a  drawer,  in  the 


THE   BEGINNINGS   OF   A   FRIENDSHIP     13 

table  before  him,  a  case  similar  to  the  one  he  had  given 
me  years  before,  with  the  same  Imperial  crown  in  silver 
on  the  blue  velvet. 

"  Here,"  he  said,  "  is  the  lost  pin;  "  and,  as  I  opened 
the  case  to  look  at  the  jewel,  he  added  quietly:  "  At  least, 
it  may  in  a  measure  replace  the  other.  I  am  going  away. 
Keep  this  as  a  souvenir  of  me." 

Surely  no  man  ever  had  a  more  delicate  and  delightful 
way  of  bestowing  favors  and  recognizing  the  services  of 
his  friends. 

It  was  one  of  my  rules  to  ask  of  his  Majesty  no  personal 
favors.  I  never  asked  him  even  for  a  photograph  or  an 
autograph.  These  things  and  many  others  were  given  to 
me  unasked  and  of  his  own  free-will,  he  alone  judging 
when,  and  under  what  circumstances,  or  for  what  services 
a  recompense  should  be  given. 

Once  at  a  large  luncheon  at  the  Palace  of  the  Tuileries, 
when  there  were  many  guests  present,  although  the  occa- 
sion was  unofficial,  the  Emperor — who,  I  presume,  during 
the  morning  had  suffered  from  the  customary  importunity 
of  some  of  them — feeling  in  the  humor,  remarked  in  a  clear 
voice  to  a  lady  sitting  at  the  end  of  the  table:  "  I  have 
been  much  occupied  this  morning  with  demands  for  every- 
thing. By  the  by,  Countess,  I  believe  you  are  the  only 
one  of  the  Court  that  has  not  asked  me  for  something. 
Have  you  nothing  to  ask?  " 

"  No,  Sire,  nothing."  But  after  a  moment  she  added, 
"  Yes,  I  have.  My  concierge  has  been  asking  me  to  rec- 
ommend him  for  the  military  medal,  because  he  fought 
in  the  Crimea  and  has  not  received  it.  If  your  Majesty 
would  kindly  obtain  the  medal  for  him  I  should  be  very 
glad." 

The  Emperor  replied:  "It  is  done.  I  had  observed 
that  you  never  asked  anything  of  me.  I  believe  you  are 
the  only  one  here — No,"  he  said,  turning  to  me,  "  Evans 
has  never  asked  of  me  anything  for  himself." 


14  THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

My  answer  was,  "  I  hope  your  Majesty  may  always  be 
able  to  say  so ;  "  f or  I  felt  then  as  I  do  now  that,  by  his  fre- 
quent remembrances  and  by  his  appreciation  of  the  serv- 
ices I  had  occasion  to  render  him,  I  was  always  most  gen- 
erously recompensed  without  my  seeking. 

My  professional  relations  with  the  Emperor  began,  as 
I  have  already  said,  soon  after  he  became  President  of  the 
Republic.  He  had  extremely  delicate  teeth — an  inheri- 
tance from  his  mother,  he  told  me;  and,  being  more  than 
usually  sensitive  to  pain — this  condition  of  hyperesthesia, 
as  Corvisart  and  Nelaton  termed  it,  was  generalized  and 
especially  pronounced  towards  the  close  of  his  life — he 
suffered  greatly  from  the  least  inflammation,  and,  in  eon- 
sequence,  frequently  required  my  professional  assistance. 
Moreover,  he  was  constitutionally  inclined  to  hemorrhages, 
and,  when  a  child,  nearly  lost  his  life  from  the  bleeding 
which  followed  the  extraction  of  a  tooth.  In  this  instance 
he  was  saved  by  the  watchful  care  of  his  mother,  who,  in  the 
night,  having  discovered  the  flow  of  blood,  put  her  finger 
on  the  gum  and  held  it  there  firmly  until  the  bleeding 
stopped. 

As  I  was  commonly  summoned  to  the  Palace  imme- 
diately there  was  anything  amiss  about  his  mouth,  I  gener- 
ally succeeded  in  obtaining  for  him  the  relief  he  sought.  He 
hated  to  be  hurt,  and  I  was  always  very  careful  not  to  hurt 
him  when  it  was  necessary  to  use  an  instrument  for  any 
purpose.  It  was  therefore  only  natural,  perhaps,  that  the 
Emperor  should  have  gratefully  recognized  the  immense 
relief  from  absolute  torture  which,  on  several  occasions,  I 
was  fortunately  and  most  happily  able  to  secure  for  him 
almost  immediately  I  saw  him.  But  his  appreciation  of. 
such  services  was  something  more  than  personal.  It  was 
not  limited  to  me;  it  reached  out  and  included  the  whole 
dental  profession.  He  found  the  dental  art  to  be  of  great 
use  to  him,  and,  accordingly,  had  an  excellent  opinion  of 


THE    BEGINNINGS    OF    A   FRIENDSHIP     15 

dentists  in  general,  and  saw  no  reason  why  they  should 
not  be  as  proud  of  their  specialty  as  the  practitioners  of 
any  branch  of  medicine  or  surgery. 

If  it  was  my  privilege  to  render  considerable  profes- 
sional services  to  the  Emperor,  I  was  richly  repaid  in 
many  ways ;  but  more  especially  by  the  direct  support  and 
encouragement  he  gave  me  in  the  practise  of  my  art,  and 
the  social  consideration  he  accorded  to  me,  and,  through 
me,  to  my  profession.  Indeed,  the  immense  importance  of 
this  can  hardly  be  understood  by  one  not  acquainted  with 
the  character  of  the  men  Avho  practised  dentistry  when 
I  came  to  Paris,  and  the  contempt  with  which  they  were 
spoken  of  and  regarded.  Those  persons  who  made  it  their 
business  to  treat  diseases  of  the  teeth  were  ranked  with  bar- 
bers, cuppers,  and  bleeders,  just  as,  a  hundred  years  be- 
fore, surgeons  were,  everywhere  in  Europe.  Physicians 
and  surgeons  considered  the  care  of  the  teeth  as  un- 
worthy of  their  attention  and  science;  the  rectification  of 
those  irregularities  of  dentition  that  give  rise  to  defects 
in  speech,  or  disfigure  the  mouth,  they  knew  nothing  about ; 
and  extractions  were  left  to  be  performed  by  mountebanks 
at  street  corners,  or  fakirs  at  fairs,  where  the  howls  of  the 
victims  were  drowned  by  the  beating  of  drums,  the  clash 
of  cymbals  and  the  laughter  and  applause  of  the  delighted 
and  admiring  crowd.  This  al  fresco  practise  of  dentistry 
was  to  me  one  of  the  most  curious  and  foreign  features 
of  street  life  in  the  old  Paris  of  1847. 

If  the  dentist  was  sent  for  to  attend  a  patient  he  was 
expected  to  enter  the  house  by  the  back-stairs,  with  the 
tailor  and  the  butcher  boy  and  the  other  purveyors  to 
the  establishment.  The  front-stairs  were  for  those  only 
whose  social  standing  gave  them  the  right  to  use  them. 
Although  it  was  never  within  my  own  experience  to  be 
invited  to  go  up  the  escalier  de  service,  it  is  not  surpris- 
ing that  the  low  social  standing  of  dentists  in  general,  at 
this  period,  should  have  been  made  known  to  me  in  ways 


16  THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

that  sometimes  left  a  sting.  But,  after  a  while,  these 
things  ceased  to  trouble  me.  In  fact,  after  I  had  been 
in  Paris  a  few  years,  I  seldom  heard,  or  overheard,  a  word 
in  disparagement  of  my  profession.  An  exception,  how- 
ever, to  this  experience  may  be  worth  mentioning. 

At  a  ball  given  at  the  Palace  of  the  Tuileries,  in  1857, 
to  which  Mrs.  Evans  and  myself  had  been  invited,  we 
overheard  a  conversation  which  took  place  so  near  to  us 
that  very  little  of  it  was  lost. 

"  Who  is  that  woman?  "  said  one  lady  to  another — 
"  she  is  so  delicate  and  lady-like — she  looks  like  an  Ameri- 
can." "  Yes,  she  is,"  was  the  reply;  "  and  only  think 
— she  is  the  wife  of  a  dentist !     How  dreadful !  ' 

A  few  minutes  later,  the  Emperor  approached  us  and 
shook  hands  with  us  both. 

"  And  who  is  the  gentleman  to  whom  the  Emperor  is 
now  speaking  so  cordially?  "  again  inquired  the  lady  first 
mentioned.  "  Oh,  that  is  Evans,  the  dentist,  the  husband 
of  the  woman;  he  was  pointed  out  to  me  last  week  at  the 
Cowleys ' ;  they  say  he  is  very  clever  and  that  the  Emperor 
thinks  very  highly  of  him ;  his  manners  appear  to  be  good. 
Those  American  dentists,  it  seems,  are  something  won- 
derful." 

Not  long  after,  I  received  a  visit  from  both  of  these 
ladies,  who  wished  to  consult  me  professionally;  and  one 

of  them,  the  Countess  de  L ,  who  is  still  living,  became 

one  of  my  warmest  personal  friends. 

I  was  young  and  ambitious  when  I  came  to  Paris,  and, 
as  an  American  citizen,  I  had  never  thought  it  would  be 
necessary  for  me  to  feel  ashamed  of  myself  socially,  or 
that  I  was  about  to  be  deprived  of  the  privileges  and  civil- 
ities usually  conceded  to  the  practitioners  of  the  liberal 
arts  and  professions.  The  Emperor  quickly  saw  how  I 
felt  about  the  position  I  was  to  hold  in  his  immediate 
entourage,  in  view  of  my  professional  relations  to  him. 
And  since  he  was  not  disposed  to  recognize  distinctions 


THE    BEGINNINGS   OF   A   FRIENDSHIP     17 

of  any  kind  among  men,  except  such  as  were  determined 
by  intelligence,  or  personal  accomplishments,  or  special 
abilities,  I  was  very  soon  admitted  to  the  Elysee  officially, 
on  a  footing  of  equality  with  doctors  of  medicine,  sur- 
geons, university  professors  and  men  of  science  in  general. 
When  the  Court  was  established,  I  received  my  appoint- 
ment of  "  Surgeon  Dentist,"  and  in  the  same  form  and 
on  the  same  terms  as  the  other  doctors  and  surgeons  in 
the  "  Service  de  Sante  "  attached  to  the  "  Maison  de 
l'Empereur. "  My  court  dress  was  the  gold-embroidered 
special  uniform  worn  by  every  member  of  the  medical 
staff.     We  all  received  the  same  compensation. 

I  was  the  only  dentist  at  the  Court  of  the  Tuileries; 
and  the  Emperor  was  most  kind  and  considerate  to  me  on 
all  occasions,  in  public  as  well  as  in  private.  Once  having 
a  standing  at  the  Imperial  Court  I  was  enabled  to  be  re- 
ceived at  other  courts;  and  there  are  few,  if  any,  in 
Europe  where  I  have  not  been  at  some  time  a  guest. 

I  am  sure  that  the  consideration  which  has  been  shown 
to  me  by  nearly  all  the  royal  families  of  Europe,  whether 
visiting  them  professionally  or  otherwise,  has  been  of  very 
great  service  to  me  personally;  and  I  am  equally  sure,  but 
still  more  pleased  to  believe,  that  my  profession  has  been 
benefited  and  honored  also  by  the  numerous  Imperial  and 
Royal  attentions  and  honors  I  have  received,  during  the 
nearly  fifty  years  that  I  have  practised  the  art  of  dentistry 
in  Europe. 

Sensitive  as  the  Emperor  was  to  physical  pain,  no  man 
faced  danger  more  bravely  or  more  calmly.  The  courage 
that  he  displayed  at  Strasbourg,  at  Boulogne,  and  at 
Sedan  is  a  matter  of  history;  so  also  is  the  extraordinary 
self-possession,  at  a  most  critical  moment,  that  enabled 
him  to  effect  his  escape  from  the  fortress  at  Ham. 

I  saw  him  soon  after  the  cowardly  attempt  to  kill  him 
and  the  Empress,  made  by  Orsini,  in  front  of  the  Opera 


18  THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

House,  on  the  evening  of  January  14th,  1858.  The  bombs 
had  killed  several  persons  outright  and  wounded  one 
hundred  and  fifty-six  others.  The  carriage  in  which  he 
was  riding  was  wrecked,  and  one  of  the  horses  killed. 
The  Emperor's  hat  had  been  pierced  with  a  projectile, 
and  the  Empress'  dress  spattered  with  blood;  but  by  a 
miracle,  as  it  were,  their  Majesties  escaped  untouched. 
Descending  from  their  carriage,  calm  and  self-possessed, 
in  the  darkness — for  the  explosion  had  extinguished  the 
gaslight — and  in  the  midst  of  the  cries  and  the  rush  of 
the  panic-stricken  crowd,  they  pushed  their  way  on  to  the 
Opera  House,  where,  when  they  appeared  in  the  Imperial 
loge,  they  were  greeted  by  the  audience  with  tumultuous 
applause.  The  performance — ' '  Marie  Stuart, ' '  with  a  bal- 
let representing  the  assassination  of  Gustavus  III.,  King  of 
Sweden — was  not  stopped ;  and  their  Majesties  remained  in 
the  house  until  its  close. 
•  At  midnight  they  returned  to  the  Tuileries. 
When  the  report  of  this  attempt  to  assassinate  the 
Emperor  reached  me,  I  was  about  to  go  to  the  English 
Embassy,  where  I  had  been  invited  by  Lady  Cowley.  As 
is  usually  the  case  in  times  of  great  public  excitement, 
the  facts  were  exaggerated.  I  was  told  that  the  Emperor 
and  Empress  had  both  been  killed.  Stunned  by  the  news, 
it  was  some  time  before  I  could  realize  the  situation.  It 
then  occurred  to  me  that  the  Tuileries  might  be  attacked 
and  that  the  young  Prince  Imperial  might  perhaps  be  in 
danger.  My  carriage  was  at  the  door,  and  I  drove  at  once 
to  the  palace,  where  I  learned  that  their  Majesties  had 
not  been  killed.  I  saw  Miss  Shaw,  however,  and  told  her 
that  I  had  come  to  take  her  and  the  ' '  baby, ' '  as  she  called 
the  little  Prince,  if  there  should  be  any  fear  for  his  safety, 
over  to  the  British  Embassy,  where  I  was  sure  "  dear  Lady' 
Cowley  "  would  be  only  too  pleased  to  protect  him.  But 
it  was  very  soon  evident  that  the  occupants  of  the  palace 
were  in  no  danger.     Not  long  after  I  arrived  Lord  Cow- 


THE   BEGINNINGS   OF   A   FRIENDSHIP     19 

ley,  together  with  other  representatives  of  the  Diplomatic 
Corps  and  a  number  of  high  officials,  came  to  the  Tuileries 
to  congratulate  the  Emperor  and  the  Empress  on  their 
fortunate  escape. 

When  their  Majesties  entered  the  salon,  where  we  had 
all  assembled,  I  was  surprised  to  see  that  the  terrible 
tragedy  they  had  witnessed,  and  of  which  they  alone  were 
the  intended  victims,  had  in  no  way  visibly  affected  the 
absolute  self-command  and  habitual  serenity  of  the  Em- 
peror; and  that  the  Empress  thanked,  with  her  accus- 
tomed dignity  and  grace  and  the  sweetest  of  smiles,  those 
who  had  come  to  tell  her  how  happy  they  were  to  know 
that  she  had  met  with  no  harm. 

But  the  Empress  soon  hurried  to  the  room  of  the  young 
Prince  to  see  her  "  darling  ";  and  it  was  only  then,  when 
she  had  clasped  him  in  her  arms,  that  she  gave  way  to 
emotion. 

The  Emperor  related  to  us  some  of  the  particulars  of 
the  affair,  without  showing  the  least  excitement.  He  de- 
plored the  loss  of  life,  and  the  sorrow  and  suffering  it 
had  occasioned,  and  observed  that  every  one  had  reason 
to  be  thankful  that  the  number  of  the  killed  was  not 
greater.  Pointing  to  the  hole  torn  in  his  hat,  he  turned 
towards  me  and  said  very  calmly : 

"  This  was  done  by  an  English  slug — that  bomb  was 
made  in  England." 

I  saw  him  again  the  next  morning.  He  then  spoke  of 
the  event  as  if  it  were  really  something  that  concerned 
others  rather  than  himself — as  if  it  suggested  to  him  no 
personal  danger — as  if  he  felt  perfectly  sure  that  his  time 
had  not  yet  come.  And  the  same  day  he  drove  out  with 
the  Empress,  going  the  whole  length  of  the  boulevards, 
with  only  a  single  attendant. 

Again,  his  self-control  was  put  to  a  severe  test  at  the 
time  of  the  great  review  held  at  Longchamps,  in  1867,  in 
honor  of  the  Czar,  when  Berezowski,  the  Pole,  made  his 


20  THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

desperate  attempt  to  assassinate  Alexander  II.  Berezowski 
fired  point-blank  at  the  Czar,  the  two  sovereigns  being  seat- 
ed side  by  side  in  their  carriage.  The  ball,  striking  the  nose 
of  the  horse  of  an  equerry,  M.  Firmin  Rainbeaux,  dashed 
the  blood  in  their  faces  and  passed  between  them.  The  Em- 
peror immediately  arose  and  waved  his  hat  to  show  the  peo- 
ple that  nobody  was  hurt;  and  then,  resuming  his  seat, 
turned  to  the  Czar  and  said  jokingly :  "  We  have  now  been 
under  fire  together." 

Paris  was  greatly  excited  by  this  affair;  but  it  appar- 
ently affected  in  no  way  either  the  Czar  or  the  Emperor. 
They  moved  about  among  the  people  as  usual,  and  freely, 
both  by  day  and  by  night.  I  saw  the  Emperor  soon  after 
this  wretched  attempt  to  murder  a  foreign  sovereign  who 
had  come  to  visit  the  Exposition,  and  thus  pay  homage  to 
the  nation.  In  speaking  of  this  incident,  he  exhibited  his 
habitual  composure,  and  appeared  not  to  have  been  in  the 
slightest  degree  impressed  with  a  sense  of  the  danger  he 
had  escaped.  His  only  feeling  seemed  to  be  one  of  regret 
that  such  an  experience  should  have  happened  in  Paris 
to  a  guest  of  France.  "  I  am  sorry,"  said  he,  "  that  our 
hospitality  should  have  been  so  outraged." 

Unostentatious  and  full  of  charm,  how  little  the  out- 
side world  knew  the  generous  and  affectionate  nature 
underlying  the  personality  which  it  considered  cold  and 
calculating ! 

The  sympathy  of  the  Emperor  for  any  one  in  distress 
was  so  great  that  often  it  was  almost  impossible  for  him 
to  resist  the  generous  impulse  of  the  moment.  More  than 
one  person  has  owed  everything  in  life — position,  fortune, 
honor  even — to  being  able  to  make  a  direct  appeal  to  his 
Majesty.  As  for  instance  the  young  officer  of  the  Imperial 
Guard  who  had  ruined  himself  one  night  at  cards.  Hav- 
ing left  the  table  without  a  sou,  and  twenty  thousand 
francs  in  debt,  this  young  man,  with  dishonor  staring  him 


THE    BEGINNINGS    OF    A    FRIENDSHIP     21 

in  the  face,  went  straight  to  the  Emperor,  and  told  him 
the  whole  story,  saying  that  he  saw  but  one  sure  way 
out  of  his  trouble,  and  that  was  to  kill  himself.  The 
Emperor  listened  calmly  until  he  had  finished;  and  then, 
without  uttering  a  word,  opened  a  drawer  in  his  bureau, 
and  taking  out  twenty  one-thousand-franc  notes,  he 
handed  them  to  the  young  man,  saying  as  he  did  so,  "  The 
life  of  one  of  my  soldiers  is  worth  more  than  the  money 
I  have  given  you,  but  I  am  not  sufficiently  rich  to  be  able 
to  redeem  them  all  at  that  price."  Then,  with  a  pleasant 
smile,  he  added :  ' '  You  can  go  now — but  don 't  do  it 
again." 

And  if  credence  can  be  given  to  another  story,  whis- 
pered about  at  the  time,  but  afterward  told  openly,  the 
goodness  of  heart  of  Napoleon  III.  sometimes  led  him  to 
be  as  inconsiderate  of  the  letter  of  the  military  code  as 
was  our  great  President  Abraham  Lincoln. 

The  case  was  one  of  espionage — a  Dreyfus  case,  in  point 
of  fact.  A  young  artillery  officer  of  distinction,  and, 
moreover,  a  sort  of  "  protege  "  of  the  Emperor,  was 
charged — so  it  is  said — with  furnishing  the  Austrian  Gov- 
ernment with  a  description  of  a  rifled  cannon  which  had 
been  constructed  under  the  Emperor's  personal  supervi- 
sion. This  was  just  before  France  and  Italy  declared  war 
against  Austria.  The  case  having  been  fully  investigated, 
the  incriminating  facts  and  circumstances  were  reported 
to  the  Emperor,  who  listened  to  what  was  said  in  silence. 
He  requested,  however,  that  the  lieutenant  should  be 
brought  before  him  the  next  day.  As  soon  as  the  accused 
officer  was  ushered  into  his  Majesty's  presence,  he  was 
seized  with  a  nervous  paroxysm  that  made  him  speechless 
and  was  pitiful  to  witness.  Napoleon  III.,  standing  be- 
fore him  and  looking  calmly  in  his  face,  said  in  the  quiet- 
est manner  possible,  "  It  is  true,  then — you  are  a  traitor !  ' ' 
As  the  young  man  made  no  reply,  but  began  to  sob,  the 
Emperor  continued,  "  Stop  your  crying,  sir — listen  to  me! 


22  THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

Out  of  respect  for  the  honor  of  the  army,  and  inasmuch 
as  the  criminal  act  you  were  about  to  commit  has,  very 
fortunately,  not  been  carried  out,  I  pardon  you.  Having 
once  loved  you,  this  is  my  sad  duty.  Furthermore,  I  do 
not  wish  that  any  one  should  be  able  to  say  that  a  French 
officer  has  betrayed  his  country.  There  will  be  no  scandal ; 
and  for  you  there  will  be,  at  the  same  time,  no  punishment. 
But,  from  this  hour,  you  are  no  longer  a  soldier.  Hand 
to  me  your  resignation  immediately  and  I  will  send  it  to 
the  Minister  of  War." 

The  lieutenant  wrote  his  resignation  on  the  spot  and 
gave  it  to  the  Emperor,  who,  taking  it  without  a  word, 
walked  to  his  desk  to  resume  the  work  upon  which  he  was 
then  engaged. 

As  the  story  goes,  when  the  young  man  left  the  Em- 
peror's cabinet,  the  officer  who  had  him  in  charge  said  to 
him,  "  Well,  his  Majesty  has  been  very  indulgent  to  you 
— you  will  neither  be  shot  nor  degraded.  You  are  satis- 
fied, are  you  not?  "  The  young  man  making  no  reply, 
he  continued :  ' '  But  you  understand,  sir,  what  the  pardon 
of  the  Emperor  must  mean — for  you?  "  Then,  looking  up 
into  the  face  of  the  officer  and  speaking  for  the  first  time, 
the  young  man  said,  ' '  Yes,  sir. ' ' 

And  that  evening  he  blew  his  brains  out. 

So  the  honor  of  the  army  was  saved.  But  I  am  quite 
sure  it  was  never  the  intention  of  the  Emperor  to  have  it 
saved  in  that  way.  It  would  have  been  incompatible  with 
one  of  the  reasons  assigned  by  him  for  pardoning  the  of- 
fense committed,  and  contrary  also  to  his  well-known  ab- 
horrence of  all  scandal.  And  the  story  itself — is  it  true? 
For,  kind  as  the  Emperor  always  was,  no  man  could  be 
firmer  or  more  inexorable  than  he,  when  dealing  with  sub- 
jects relating  to  principles  and  public  order. 

But  the  story  of  the  payment  of  the  "  debt  of  honor  " 
is  authentic.  And  it  may  please  the  reader  to  know  that 
the  twenty  thousand  francs  were  returned  to  the  Emperor, 


THE    BEGINNINGS    OF   A   FRIENDSHIP     23 

and  that  the  young  man  not  only  followed  the  advice  given 
to  him,  but  became,  afterward,  one  of  the  most  brilliant 
and  distinguished  officers  in  the  French  army. 

The  kindness  and  generosity  of  the  Emperor  were  not 
however  the  products  of  a  passing  emotion  or  a  common- 
place feeling  of  good-fellowship,  limited  to  those  who  were 
brought  into  immediate  relationship  with  him,  but  arose 
from  an  elevated  sentiment  of  benevolence,  of  longanimity 
even,  towards  all  men.  When  the  death  of  Frangois  Arago 
was  announced,  although  the  great  astronomer  and  phys- 
icist had  been  one  of  his  most  uncompromising  political 
enemies,  the  Emperor  directed  that  the  Government  should 
be  represented  at  the  funeral  by  Marshal  Vaillant,  the 
Grand  Marshal  of  the  palace,  and  he  himself,  personally, 
by  an  officier  d'ordonnance,  Baron  Tascher  de  la 
Pagerie.  He  was  willing,  at  once,  to  efface  from  his  mind 
the  depreciatory  words  that  Arago  had  uttered,  words  that 
the  world  itself  would  not  long  remember,  and  to  pay  an 
immediate  tribute  to  the  genius  of  the  man  whose  name 
the  nation  was  about  to  place  upon  the  walls  of  the  Pan- 
theon. And  how  ready  he  was  to  honor  the  memory  of 
Carnot !  how  ready  to  come  to  the  relief  of  Lamartine,  in 
his  old  age  and  poverty !  And  yet  how  small,  even  at  the 
time,  was  the  recognition  he  received  for  these  generous 
acts.  Strange  as  it  may  seem,  there  was  scarcely  a  news- 
paper that  did  not  reproach  him  for  extending  a  helping 
hand  to  the  author  of  "  Jocelyn."  But  the  Emperor  was 
willing  to  recognize  the  merits  of  men  who  had  stood  aloof 
from  him,  and  from  whom  he  had  nothing  to  expect  in  re- 
turn for  his  generous  appreciation  of  the  services  they  had 
rendered  to  their  country.  He  took  of  events  and  of  men 
a  view  too  broad  and  too  impersonal  ever  to  forget  that  he 
was  Emperor  of  all  the  French,  or  to  refuse  Imperial 
homage  to  those  persons  who  had  conspicuously  contrib- 
uted to  the  prosperity  and  glory  of  France — even  were 
they  his  bitterest  enemies. 


24  THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

He  wished  to  see  France  great  and  prosperous.  But 
the  dream  he  cherished  was  that  Europe  and  the  world 
might  be  at  peace;  and  his  hope,  his  ambition  was  that 
it  might  be  his  destiny  to  lay  the  foundations  of  a  future 
reign  of  justice  among  men.  In  1854  he  said :  ' '  France 
has  no  idea  of  aggrandisement ;  I  love  to  proclaim  it  loudly 
the  time  of  conquests  has  passed  never  to  return,  for  it  is 
not  by  extending  the  limits  of  its  territory  that  a  nation  is 
to  be  henceforth  honored  and  to  become  powerful ;  it  is  by 
making  itself  the  leader  of  generous  ideas  and  by  causing 
the  sentiment  of  right  and  justice  to  prevail  everywhere." 
And  he  continued  to  say  these  things  to  the  end  of  his  life 
— striving  all  the  while  to  make  real  what  he  was  pro- 
foundly convinced  ought  to  be  governing  principles  in  a 
well-ordered  State. 

The  policy  for  which  he  has  been  most  severely  crit- 
icized, that  of  natural  frontiers — the  rectification  of  boun- 
daries which  he  believed  to  be  necessary  for  the  permanent 
peace  of  Europe — was  only  one  of  the  ways  in  which  his 
philanthropic  feeling  found  expression.  Indeed,  there  is 
something  really  pathetic  in  his  attitude  at  Saint  Cloud, 
when,  reluctantly  yielding  to  the  advice  of  his  Councilors 
and  finally  consenting  to  the  mobilization  of  the  troops,  he 
said :  "  If  we  should  succeed  in  this  war,  its  most  benefi- 
cent result  will  be  our  ability  to  secure  a  general  disarma- 
ment in  Europe." 

His  philanthropy  manifested  itself  in  innumerable 
ways,  and  in  his  dealings  with  every  one,  no  matter 
how  humble  his  station  in  life.  His  grandeur  never 
weighed  heavily  with  him.  A  democrat  at  heart,  he  loved 
to  talk  with  the  common  people — the  soldier,  the  peas- 
ant, the  working  man;  he  was  always  willing  to  listen 
to  their  complaints  and  ready  to  relieve  them  when  he 
could. 

One  day,  when  he  was  inspecting  some  buildings  that 
were  being  erected  by  his  direction,  an  aide-de-camp  in- 


THE    BEGINNINGS    OF    A   FRIENDSHIP     25 

formed  him  that  the  workmen  seemed  to  be  discontented. 
"  What  is  the  matter?  "  said  the  Emperor. 

"  Well,"  replied  the  officer,  after  hesitating  a  moment, 
"  they  say  that  you  and  everybody  about  you  are  drink- 
ing champagne,  while  beer  is  thought  to  be  good  enough 
for  them." 

The  Emperor  made  no  reply,  but  slowly  and  alone 
walked  forward,  and,  approaching  a  number  of  the  men 
who  were  standing  together  in  a  group,  said,  "  Good 
morning,  my  friends."  Then,  after  a  few  pleasant  words, 
he  continued,  "  Ah,  they  have  given  you  beer,  I  see. 
Come,  let  us  have  a  glass  of  champagne!  "  And  when 
the  champagne,  which  he  then  ordered,  had  been  brought 
and  the  glasses  of  all  had  been  filled,  calling  out  to  the 
foreman,  and  touching  glasses  with  him,  he  said,  "  My 
best  wishes,"  and,  turning  to  the  others,  "  Your  good 
health,  my  friends !  ' ' 

All  of  this  was  done  and  said  with  such  perfect  ease 
and  naturalness,  such  entire  sincerity,  that  it  went  straight 
to  the  hearts  of  these  men,  who  felt  that  the  Emperor  was 
not  like  other  emperors  and  kings,  but  was  as  they  ex- 
pressed it  "  one  of  us."  And  yet,  although  approachable 
at  all  times  and  absolutely  free  from  haughtiness,  when 
he  was  most  familiar  there  was  in  his  manner  a  dignity 
which  caused  those  with  whom  he  was  speaking  to  under- 
stand that  he  was  still  the  Emperor. 

Never  was  a  ruler  judged  more  falsely  than  Napoleon 
III.  He  loved  mankind  and  was  always  thinking  of  ways 
in  which  he  could  benefit  the  people  or  make  some  one 
happy.  On  one  occasion,  after  he  had  spoken  of  the  con- 
dition of  the  laboring  classes  in  France,  and  the  measures 
that  ought  to  be  taken  to  raise  the  standard  of  living 
among  the  people  generally,  I  ventured  to  say  to  him, 
'  Why!  your  Majesty  is  almost  a  Socialist,  your  sym- 
pathies are  always  with  the  poor;  their  welfare  would 
seem  to  concern  you  more  than  anything  else." 


26  THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

"  It  ought  to,"  he  replied.  Was  he  not  worthy  of  the 
title  given  to  him  by  the  people — "  L'Empereur  des 
Ouvriers  "? 

But  it  must  not  be  supposed  that  the  Emperor,  deeply 
interested  as  he  was  in  ameliorating  the  condition  of  the 
poor,  sought  to  find  in  fanciful  speculations  and  theories 
remedies  for  the  want  and  suffering  which  he  deplored. 
"  No  amelioration  of  the  lot  of  the  laboring  classes  is 
possible,"  he  said,  "  except  under  a  firmly  established 
government,  and  where  there  is  a  sense  of  absolute  social 
security.  The  false  idea  is  the  doctrine  that  pretends  to 
reach  this  end  by  upsetting  everything  which  exists,  and 
by  the  successful  working  of  chimeras  that  have  no  roots 
in  the  past,  and  whose  future  is  hopeless. ' ' 

Ideas,  principles — things  that  were  impersonal  and  en- 
during— were  the  concerns  that  preoccupied  his  mind.  It 
was  the  triumph  of  these  that  he  strove  for ;  and  to  which 
he  easily  subordinated  every  other  sentiment  and  impulse. 
He  was  always  ready  to  forget  the  harsh  sayings  of  his 
political  enemies;  and  if  they  were  men  of  ability  and 
distinction  he  frequently  took  great  pains  to  conciliate 
them  and  to  secure  their  services  in  the  interests  of  the 
State,  and,  if  possible,  their  friendship  as  well.  '  On 
gouverne,"  said  he,  "  avec  un  parti;  on  administre  avec  des 
capacites. ' ' 

His  idea  was  to  establish  a  government  of  order  and 
justice  in  which  the  rights  of  every  man  should  be  re- 
spected ;  and  one  also  in  which  the  administrative  functions 
should  be  discharged  by  the  most  competent,  without  regard 
to  rank,  or  fortune,  or  privilege,  or  social  circumstances  of 
any  sort.  And  to  this  end — to  this  supreme  purpose — 
liberating  himself  from  every  transient  passion  or  previous 
prejudice,  he  solicited  the  support  of  all  the  people,  and 
strove  to  keep  the  way  to  the  highest  offices  and  positions 
in  the  Government  open  to  all  the  talents. 

It  was  by  means  of  this  conciliatory  disposition,  by 


THE   BEGINNINGS   OF   A   FRIENDSHIP     27 

tact,  by  the  charms  of  his  personality,  his  conversation, 
his  demeanor,  that  he  subdued  his  political  enemies  when 
he  chanced  to  meet  them,  and  brought  many  of  them  finally 
to  rally  round  him. 

The  Emperor  has  been  bitterly  denounced  by  his  politi- 
cal adversaries,  who  have  applied  to  him  nearly  every  name 
in  the  vocabulary  of  ineptitude  and  of  crime.  These  names, 
however,  are  not  to  be  taken  seriously ;  they  never  were  by 
those  who  uttered  them.  They  are  not  characterizations. 
They  merely  indicate  the  state  of  mind  of  those  who  made 
use  of  them;  for,  as  Paul  Louis  Courier  has  told  us,  "  imbe- 
cile," "  rascal,"  "  thief,"  "  assassin,"  are  in  France  the 
conventional  epithets  which  writers  and  speakers  apply 
to  a  person  when  they  simply  wish  to  say  they  do  not  agree 
with  him.  But  very  few  of  the  Emperor's  calumniators 
have  failed  to  recognize  the  amiable  character  of  the  man ; 
and  it  is  a  fact,  sufficiently  curious  to  be  remarked,  that,  so 
far  as  I  know,  not  one  of  those  writers  or  ' '  chroniqueurs  ' 
who  have  seen  fit  to  be  especially  spiteful  when  speaking  of 
the  Empress,  has  failed  to  accentuate  the  malice  by  extol- 
ling the  generous  and  noble  qualities  of  the  Emperor,  and 
by  discharging  him  even  of  a  large  share  of  his  official 
responsibilities. 

Indeed,  whatever  may  be  the  judgment  of  contemporary 
France  with  respect  to  the  merits  or  shortcomings  of  the 
Imperial  regime,  or  of  the  Emperor  himself,  nothing  is 
more  certain  than  that  it  would  be  extremely  difficult  at  the 
present  time  to  find  a  personal  enemy  of  Napoleon  III.  in 
the  country  over  which  he  once  ruled. 

I  have  had  on  many  occasions  the  privilege  of  listening 
to  some  of  the  most  distinguished  men  in  Europe,  when 
they  have  been  speaking  freely  and  informally  about  the 
Emperor  and  his  Court.  While  the  opinions  of  these  per- 
sons were  often  at  variance  in  regard  to  matters  relating 
to  the  policy  of  the  Imperial  Government,  they  had  only 


28  THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

one  opinion  as  to  the  Emperor's  amiable  character  and 
the  goodness  of  his  heart.  His  magnanimity,  his  forget- 
fulness  of  injuries,  his  great  kindness  to  the  unfortunate, 
even  his  political  enemies,  foreign  as  well  as  domestic,  were 
willing  to  admit ;  although  some  of  those  who  were  the  bene- 
ficiaries of  his  generosity  and  were  indebted  to  him  for 
everything  they  possessed,  afterward  proved  singularly  in- 
appreciative  of  the  indulgence  and  favors  that  had  been 
most  liberally  granted  to  them. 

Not  one  of  these  was  Abd-el-Kader,  the  famous  Emir 
of  Algiers — that  noble  representative  of  the  Arab  race 
who,  after  years  of  heroic  resistance,  having  surrendered 
to  the  French,  on  condition  that  he  should  not  be  deprived 
of  his  liberty,  in  flagrant  violation  of  the  terms  of  the 
capitulation  was  shut  up  in  prison  at  Amboise  by  the  Gov- 
ernment of  Louis  Philippe.  Nor  did  the  Republic  of  1848 
have  the  grace  to  release  him,  and  thus  make  amends  for 
a  breach  of  faith  that  dishonored  the  army  and  was  a  dis- 
grace to  the  nation.  But  the  very  first  act  of  Louis  Napo- 
leon on  obtaining  Imperial  power,  in  December,  1852,  was 
to  set  Abd-el-Kader  at  liberty.  Not  only  did  the  Prince 
feel  that  it  was  shameful  for  a  great  Government  to  fail 
to  keep  its  promises  to  the  weak,  but  that  to  spare  the 
vanquished  was  a  principle  dictated  alike  by  considerations 
of  public  policy  and  humanity.  And  so  the  Emir,  having 
been  set  free,  was  no  longer  treated  like  an  enemy,  but 
rather  as  a  brother;  for  when  he  knelt  before  his  bene- 
factor to  thank  him,  the  Emperor,  taking  him  by  the  hand, 
raised  him  up  and  embraced  him;  and  then  gave  him  a 
residence  at  Broussa,  in  Syria,  and  provided  him  with 
attendants,  and  horses,  and  money,  and  everything  neces- 
sary to  his  comfort  and  his  maintenance,  in  keeping  with 
his  high  rank  and  his  splendid  military  record. 

When  the  Emir  came  to  Paris  not  long  after,  he  was 
treated  by  the  Emperor  with  the  greatest  considera- 
tion.    He   and  his  Arab  retinue  had   a  place   of  honor 


THE    BEGINNINGS    OF    A    FRIENDSHIP     29 

at  every  fete  or  military  review,  and  were  the  lions  of 
the  day. 

Abd-el-Kader  was  deeply  sensible  of  the  kind  attentions 
and  the  honors  he  received  during  this  visit  to  the  French 
capital.  "  I  never  can  forget,"  he  said,  "  what  the  Lord 
of  Kings  has  done  for  me,  Abd-el-Kader,  the  son  of  Mahhi- 
el-Din.  He  is  dearer  to  me  than  are  any  of  those  whom 
I  love — I  was  far  away  and  he  has  brought  me  near  to 
him.  Others  may  have  rendered  him  greater  service;  no 
one  can  have  for  him  an  affection  greater  than  mine." 

In  1855,  Abd-el-Kader  paid  a  second  visit  to  Paris, 
where  he  and  his  retinue  of  attendants  were  again  received 
officially,  with  the  honors  and  the  courtesy  due  to  princes. 
Wherever  they  went,  the  manly  bearing  and  the  pictur- 
esque costumes  of  these  swarthy  guests  of  the  Emperor 
made  them  the  observed  of  all  observers  at  the  first  of 
the  great  Paris  Expositions. 

While  in  the  Capital,  the  Emir  came  to  consult  me 
professionally.  I  saw  him  frequently — he  visited  me  even 
at  my  own  house — and  the  distinction  of  the  man,  and  the 
story  of  his  brave  life  and  his  fall  from  power,  interested 
me  greatly.  But  his  gratitude  for  the  favors  shown  him 
by  the  Emperor  and  the  Empress  was  something  he  always 
seemed  to  carry  very  close  to  his  heart. 

'  Where  I  live,"  he  said,  "  there  are  unhappily  fre- 
quent conflicts  between  the  Mohammedans  and  the  Chris- 
tians, and,  if  ever  I  should  have  the  chance,  I  shall  be 
more  Christian  than  the  Christians,  for  I  have  suffered 
and  promised,  and  Abd-el-Kader  never  lies." 

And  his  was  no  vain  promise,  for  when  the  conflict 
between  the  Druses  and  the  Maronites  broke  out  afresh  in 
Syria,  in  1860,  Abd-el-Kader  used  his  powerful  influence 
among  his  coreligionists  to  prevent  the  massacre  of  the 
Christians  and  to  preserve  peace.  Indeed,  the  Maronites 
would  have  been  exterminated  but  for  his  magnanimous 
protection. 
4 


30  THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

That  the  famous  son  of  Mahhi-el-Din  never  failed  to 
remember  his  own  generous  protector  and  benefactor — nor 
indeed  any  one  who  had  rendered  him  a  service — I  have 
in  my  possession  an  interesting  proof. 

He  said  to  me  one  day,  "  I  cannot  recompense  you 
for  what  you  have  done  for  me;  but  I  will  give  you  my 
portrait — and  I  will  write  beneath  it  my  name."  A  pen 
having  been  brought  to  him,  he  then  wrote  a  number  of 
lines  in  Arabic,  of  which  the  following  is  a  translation: 

' '  Praise  be  to  God !  This  is  my  portrait  which  I  have 
given  to  the  Seigneur  Evans,  Doctor.  I  hope  that  he 
will  keep  it. 

"  When  he  has  cured  Kings,  they  have  given  him 
Crosses  as  a  recompense — but  I — a  poor  man,  I  give  him 
my  portrait;  and,  judging  from  what  I  know  of  his  kind- 
ness of  heart  and  his  character,  I  am  sure  he  will  be  as 
pleased  to  receive  this  portrait,  as  he  has  been  to  receive 
the  decorations  that  have  been  conferred  upon  him  by 
Kings. 

'  I  myself  was  once  a  Sultan — now  I  am  but  an  orphan, 
kindly  picked  up  by  the  Emperor  Napoleon  III.,  may  God 
glorify  him. 

"  Written  by  me,  Abd-el-Kader,  son  of  Mahhi-el-Din, 
about  the  middle  of  the  month  of  Moharram,  1272  (begin- 
ning of  October,  1855)." 


CHAPTER    II 

CHARACTER   OP   THE   EMPEROR 

The  mother  of  Louis  Napoleon — The  personal  appearance  of  the 
Emperor — His  love  of  the  country — "He  was  a  wonderful  land- 
scape gardener" — He  cared  nothing  for  Art  for  art's  sake — 
His  utilitarianism — His  domestic  habits — He  was  an  able  writer — 
He  despised  flattery — M.  Duruy — The  Emperor  disliked  circum- 
locution— He  was  tenacious  of  his  opinions,  but  slow  to  form  them 
— The  sources  of  his  information — The  Burlingame  Mission — 
The  Emperor's  extreme  caution — An  illustration — The  Emperor's 
wit  and  humor — He  was  a  peacemaker — His  imperturbability 
no  mask — He  was  a  forcible  speaker — His  religion — His  pride — 
His  qualities  the  opposites  of  our  faults. 

jOUIS  NAPOLEON  was  in  more  than  one  sense 
the  son  of  his  mother.  He  was  the  younger 
Hg  of  Queen  Hortense's  two  (surviving)  children; 
and  while  the  elder  brother  went  at  an  early 
age  to  live  with  his  father  Louis  Bonaparte,  Louis  re- 
mained constantly  with  his  mother  until  he  entered  the 
University  of  Augsburg.  The  devotion  of  this  mother  to 
her  son — who  a  few  years  later  was  to  become  her  only 
son — was  unbounded.  It  began  early  and  ended  only  with 
her  death.*  In  him  her  whole  life  was  centered.  To  his 
education  she  dedicated  herself.  She  admired  him  and 
was  proud  of  him.  "  What  a  generous  nature!  "  she  used 
to  exclaim.  "  What  a  good  and  worthy  young  man!  " 
'  He  was  born  to  do  great  things."     And  his  letters  to 


*  In  her  autobiography  Queen  Hortense  writes:  "Mon  fils  <§tait  si 
faible  que  je  pensais  ie  perdre  en  naissant.  II  fallut  le  baigner  dans  le 
vin,  l'envelopper  dans  du  coton  pour  le  rappeler  a  la  vie." 

31 


32  THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

"  Ma  chere  Maman,"  how  full  they  are  of  filial  affection 
and  respect! 

The  Emperor  often  spoke  of  his  mother,  of  how  much 
he  was  indebted  to  her  for  her  tender  care  when  a  child, 
and  for  the  wise  counsel  she  gave  him  during  the  years 
they  lived  together  in  exile.     I  doubt  if  he  ever  regretted 
anything  more  than  that  his  mother  did  not  live  to  see 
the  realization  of  hopes  they  had  cherished  in  common, 
and  her  son  on  the  throne  of  his  uncle.     Some  of  his  very 
last  days  at  Chislehurst  were  spent  in  reading  over  the 
letters  his  mother  had  written  to  him,  and  in  reviving  the 
memories  of  those  happy  years  of  his  life  when,  at  her 
side,  he  learned  by  heart  the  true  story  of  Napoleon.     And 
it  is  undoubtedly  to  her  that  must  be  ascribed  in  a  very 
large  measure  the  powerful  impression  the  career  of  Na- 
poleon— with   its   astonishing   accomplishments   and    noble 
but   unfulfilled   purposes — made    upon   the   mind    of   the 
young  Prince.    ' '  No  one, ' '  he  used  to  say,  ' '  ever  succeeded 
in  describing  Napoleon  so  well  as  my  mother."     And  no 
one,  perhaps,  was  so  admirably  qualified  to  do  this ;  for  the 
mother  of  Napoleon  III.  was  not  only  "  adorned  with  all 
the    talents,"    and    accomplished    in    nearly    every    art 
within  the  domain  of  the  imagination  and  of  taste,  but 
was  a  woman  of  unusual  intellectual  power  and  spiritual 
insight.     Nor  had  any  one  examined  more  closely  or  under- 
stood better  the  character  of  Napoleon.      It  is  not  sur- 
prising, therefore,  that  the  lessons  given  by  this  mother 
to  this  son  in  his  earliest  childhood  and  in  his  youth,  and 
especially  those  concerning  his  duties  to  his  family  and 
his  country,  like  those  given  by  Roman  matrons  to  their 
children,  formed  the  law  and  the  religion  of  Louis  Napo- 
leon.     And  this   Queen    Hortense   knew   full   well    when 
she  wrote  in  her  last  will  and  testament  the  words:  "I* 
have  no  political  counsel  to  give  my  son.     I  know  that 
he   recognizes  his  position   and   all   the   duties   his   name 
imposes  upon  him." 


CHARACTER  OF  THE  EMPEROR    33 

Queen  Hortense  and  the  Empress  Josephine  —  the 
mother  and  the  grandmother  of  Louis  Napoleon — were 
each  of  them  famous  beauties;  but  the  Emperor  Napoleon 
III.  was  not  a  handsome  man  in  the  sense  commonly  given 
to  these  words.  His  head  was  large,  usually  slightly  in- 
clined to  one  side,  and  his  features  were  strongly  pro- 
nounced. The  forehead  was  broad,  the  nose  prominent, 
the  eyes  small,  grayish-blue  in  color,  and  generally  expres- 
sionless, owing  to  a  somnolent  drooping  of  the  lids;  but 
they  brightened  wonderfully  when  he  was  amused,  and, 
when  he  was  aroused  they  were  full  of  power ;  nor  were  those 
likely  to  forget  it  who  had  once  seen,  through  these  win- 
dows of  the  soul,  the  flash  of  the  fire  that  burned  within. 
His  complexion  was  blond  but  rather  sallow;  the  lower 
part  of  the  face  was  lengthened  by  a  short  "  goatee  " — 
called  in  honor  of  his  Majesty  an  "  imperial  " — and  broad- 
ened by  a  very  heavy,  silky  mustache,  the  ends  of  which 
were  stiffly  waxed.  His  hair  was  of  a  light  brown  color, 
and,  when  I  first  knew  him,  was  abundant  and  worn 
rather  long;  at  a  later  period  it  was  trimmed  short  and 
was  habitually  brushed  in  the  style  made  familiar  by  the 
effigy  on  the  coinage  of  the  Empire.  In  complexion,  in 
the  color  of  his  hair,  and  also  in  the  shape  of  his  head, 
Napoleon  III.  was  a  Beauharnais,  not  a  Bonaparte,  and 
a  Frank,  not  a  Corsican.  He  was  a  little  below  the  average 
height;  but  his  person  was  marked  with  dignity  and  distinc- 
tion, and  his  deportment  with  ease  and  courtliness.  No  one 
seeing  him  could  fail  to  observe  that  he  was  not  an  ordi- 
nary man.  Late  in  life,  he  inclined  to  stoutness;  at  the 
time  I  first  met  him,  his  figure  was  not  large  but  his  body 
was  compact  and  muscular. 

He  was  always  carefully  dressed,  and  in  public,  when  in 
plain  clothes  usually  wore  a  black  frock  coat  tightly  but- 
toned. But  whatever  the  fashion  of  the  day  might  be  in 
hats,  rarely  could  ho  be  induced  to  wear  any  other  than  a 
"  Count  d'Orsay, "  or  a  very  subdued  type  of  the  style  in 


34  THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

vogue,  in  which  respect  he  exhibited  his  good  taste — to  those 
of  us  who  remember  the  tall,  flat-brimmed,  graceless 
"  stovepipes  "  with  which  the  Parisian  Jiommes  du  monde 
covered  their  heads  under  the  Empire. 

When  a  young  man,  the  Emperor  was  fond  of  athletic 
sports,  hunting,  fencing,  and  military  exercises  of  all 
kinds.  He  was  a  strong  swimmer — an  accomplishment  to 
which  he  may  have  owed  his  life,  on  the  failure  of  the 
expedition  to  Boulogne — and  a  fine  rider.  In  fact,  he 
never  appeared  to  better  advantage  than  when  in  the 
saddle;  and  during  the  years  of  his  Presidency  he  was 
often  seen  on  horseback  in  the  parks  and  suburbs  of  Paris, 
accompanied  by  only  one  or  two  attendants.  A  little  later, 
and  after  his  marriage,  he  liked  to  go  out  in  a  carriage 
and  to  drive  the  horses  himself.  When  staying  at  Saint 
Cloud,  he  was  to  be  seen  almost  daily  in  the  park  or  its 
neighborhood,  riding  with  the  Empress  in  a  phaeton,  be- 
hind a  span  of  fast  trotters,  handling  the  reins  himself, 
and  entirely  unattended. 

During  the  latter  part  of  his  life,  owing  to  increasing 
infirmities,  he  became  more  and  more  disinclined  to  physi- 
cal exertion.  Horseback  exercise  was  now  almost  impos- 
sible, and  his  out-of-door  excursions  were  limited,  with 
rare  exceptions,  to  carriage  drives  and  walks.  He  could 
be  seen  in  these  last  years  almost  any  day,  when  in  Paris, 
on  the  terrace  of  the  Tuileries  overlooking  the  Seine,  al- 
ways moving  slowly,  and  frequently  leaning  on  the  arm 
of  an  attendant,  or  stopping  occasionally,  as  he  was  fond 
of  doing,  to  look  down  upon  the  merry  groups  of  children 
at  play  in  the  garden,  whose  clamorous  happiness,  care- 
less and  unrestrained,  like  a  breath  of  fresh  air  from 
another  world,  was  an  inspiration  and  a  delight  to  him. 

He  hated  to  be  shut  up,  and  was  never  so  happy  as 
when  he  could  get  away  from  Paris,  and  be  in  the  open 
air.  He  loved  the  country  and  country  life.  I  have 
heard  him  say  that  he  would  have  liked  nothing  better 


CHARACTER    OF    THE    EMPEROR  35 

than  to  be  a  farmer.  He  was  pleased  to  see  the  broad 
fields,  and  orchards,  and  the  gardens;  he  would  have  been 
still  more  pleased  could  he  have  cultivated  them,  or  laid 
them  out. 

When  the  improvements  were  being  made  in  the  Bois 
de  Boulogne,  he  took  so  much  interest  in  the  work  that 
he  frequently  came  from  Saint  Cloud  very  early  in  the 
morning,  not  simply  to  see  what  the  engineers  had  accom- 
plished, but  to  superintend  and  direct,  or  as  an  American 
might  say,  "  to  boss  the  job."  I  have  been  with  him  there 
myself,  with  M.  Alphand,  the  chief  engineer,  when,  having 
proposed  some  change,  the  Emperor  has  taken  a  hammer 
from  a  workman,  and  planted  a  number  of  pickets  with 
his  own  hands,  to  mark  the  line  that  in  his  opinion  should 
be  followed.  He  seemed  to  take  great  pleasure  in  indul- 
ging his  taste  for  this  kind  of  work. 

A  good  story  that  illustrates  his  real  capacity  in  this 
direction  was  told  me  by  the  Duke  of  Hamilton,  when 
I  was  visiting  him  at  Brodick  Castle  in  Scotland.  Being 
seated  one  day  on  a  bench  by  the  side  of  his  Grace,  not 
far  from  the  castle,  I  remarked:  "  How  wonderfully  the 
vista  opens  before  us;  the  trees  have  been  so  cut  away 
as  to  make  this  landscape  most  picturesque." 

"  Yes,"  he  replied,  "  it  has  been  greatly  admired;  it 
is  quite  perfect.  But,  do  you  know,  this  was  all  done  by 
Louis  Napoleon.  When  he  was  in  exile  in  England,  he 
used  to  come  here  occasionally,  and  was  very  fond  of  the 
place.  But  he  was  always  suggesting  changes,  which,  he 
said,  would  greatly  improve  it — the  removal  of  trees  from 
certain  places  and  the  planting  of  others  elsewhere — with 
flowers  here  and  shrubbery  there.  I,  and  my  father  be- 
fore me,  allowed  the  Prince  to  carry  out  his  suggestions, 
and  you  now  see  with  what  excellent  and  very  beautiful 
results.  He  was  a  wonderful  landscape  gardener;  and," 
he  added  laughingly,  "  if  he  should  ever  lose  his  place, 
I  should  like  to  take  him  as  my  head  gardener." 


THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

I  afterward  told  the  Emperor  what  the  duke  had 
said — that  he  had  a  place  for  him  always  open,  in  case 
he  ever  needed  one.  He  laughed  and  replied :  ' '  He  was 
always  most  kind.  I  shall  never  forget  my  free  and  in- 
dependent life  at  Arran  with  the  good  duke.  Those  were 
among  the  happiest  days  of  my  life,  and  the  privilege 
I  enjoyed  of  exercising  without  restraint  some  of  my  per- 
sonal tastes  contributed  very  much  to  my  happiness." 

Louis  Napoleon  had,  however,  little  liking  for  Art  for 
its  OAvn  sake — nor  speaking  generally  had  he  a  very  high 
appreciation  of  the  excellency  of  the  products  of  aesthetic 
feeling  and  the  poetic  imagination.  He  loved  facts,  not  fan- 
cies. He  was  a  philosopher  and  not  a  poet.  He  was  called 
a  dreamer ;  and  so  he  was  in  the  sense  in  which  the  word  can 
be  applied  to  a  political  idealist — to  a  man  incessantly 
thinking — whose  mind  is  engrossed  and  preoccupied  by  so- 
cial and  economic  problems.  But  he  was  very  far  from  be- 
ing a  dreamer  who  cherished  illusions,  or  wasted  his  time  in 
idle  speculations.  He  kept  very  close  to  his  facts  in  all 
his  thinking — never  reasoning  far  ahead  of  them  after  the 
manner  of  visionaries  and  so-called  philosophers. 

The  Emperor's  mind  was  preeminently  a  practical  one. 
From  early  youth  he  was  only  fond  of  those  studies  that 
had  utilitarian  ends  in  view;  questions  relating  to  gov- 
ernment, to  the  army,  to  political  economy,  to  sociology 
— whatever  might  contribute  to  the  well-being  of  the  peo- 
ple. There  was  never  a  detail  so  small  concerning  any  of 
these  subjects  which,  if  new  to  him,  failed  to  interest  him. 
He  was  also  unusually  anxious  to  know  all  that  was  to 
be  learned  about  ingeniously  constructed  machinery  and 
useful  inventions  of  every  kind.  He  had  a  great  admira- 
tion for  these  things.  This,  he  acknowledged  to  me,  was 
one  of  his  principal  reasons  for  having  a  very  high 
opinion  of  Americans.  On  my  showing  him,  one  day, 
a  mechanical  device  which  a  New  York  gentleman  had 
requested  me  to  submit  to  him,  he  said,  after  examining 


CHARACTER    OF    THE    EMPEROR  37 

it  carefully,  and  expressing  his  appreciation  of  the  skill 
of  the  inventor,  "  You  Americans  are  sensible  enough  not 
to  permit  yourselves  to  be  bound  hand  and  foot  by  the 
usages  and  customs  of  centuries.  Your  aim  is  to  accom- 
plish what  you  do  with  the  least  expenditure  of  force — 
to  economize  labor  and  time ;  and  it  is  by  such  economies 
that  industrial  and  social  progress  is  made  possible." 

The  utilitarianism  of  the  Emperor  was  not,  by  any 
means,  a  mere  sentiment  confined  to  words,  and  to  com- 
mending and  recompensing  others  for  the  excellence  of 
their  inventions.  Possessing  himself  an  ingenious,  con- 
structive mind,  he  had  a  decided  taste  for  mechanical 
work,  and  liked  to  suggest  improvements  and  to  experi- 
ment with  things.  He  so  loved  to  make  use  of  tools  that, 
at  one  time,  he  had  a  lathe  set  up  in  a  room  in  the  Tuile- 
ries,  and  would  often  spend  an  hour  there  in  turning  the 
legs  and  arms  of  chairs,  and  similar  objects.  And  the  walls 
of  his  study  bore  the  marks  of  the  bullets  with  which  he 
and  Major  Minie  experimented,  when  they  were  working  out 
the  problems  that  led  to  the  invention  of  the  once  famous 
projectile.  He  often  did  with  his  own  hands  impromptu 
what  he  thought  he  could  do  better  than  any  one  else. 
I  have  seen  him  more  than  once,  when  an  article  of  fur- 
niture was  being  moved  or  a  picture  hung,  and  some  diffi- 
culty was  met  with,  step  forward  and  remove  the  obstacle 
himself.  And  he  seemed  to  take  delight  not  so  much  in 
telling  how  the  thing  ought  to  be  done,  as  in  showing 
how  easily  it  could  be  done,  by  having  some  regard  for 
very  simple  mechanical  principles. 

But  more  illustrative  still  of  his  love  of  invention — 
of  his  passion  one  might  say  for  making  improvements 
— was  the  work  upon  which  he  was  engaged  at  the  time 
of  his  death.  "When,  with  the  approach  of  winter,  in  the 
autumn  of  1872,  the  weather  became  colder,  and  the  price 
of  fuel  increased,  it  occurred  to  the  Emperor — thinking 
always   of  the   poor — that  something   might   be   done   to 


38  THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

decrease  the  great  waste  of  heat  carried  up  the  chimneys 
of  dwelling-houses  with  the  ascending  smoke. 

As  the  result  of  his  studies  he  proposed  to  bring  this 
about  by  means  of  a  cast-iron  cylinder,  with  certain  attach- 
ments, to  be  set  in  the  fireplace. 

'  I  think  this  apparatus,"  said  the  Emperor,  "  will 
considerably  increase  the  heat  in  the  apartment,  and  re- 
duce the  coal  bills  by  more  than  one-half."  His  draw- 
ings, all  prepared  with  his  own  hand,  were  given  to  a 
practical  stove  maker  and  the  apparatus,  when  constructed, 
was  found  to  work  well  and  as  was  intended.  But  the 
Emperor  thought  he  could  still  improve  it;  and  he  was 
experimenting  on  it  when  he  died.  It  was  the  very  last 
work  upon  which  he  was  engaged.  And,  if  it  serves  to  il- 
lustrate the  Emperor's  mechanical  turn  of  mind,  when  we 
remember  how  much  he  did  during  his  reign  to  improve 
the  material  and  social  condition  of  his  subjects,  how 
deeply  he  was  interested  in  the  uplifting  of  the  masses, 
it  is  interesting  to  know  that  even  when  dethroned  and 
in  exile  he  still  cherished  the  same  humanitarian  ideals, 
and  that  the  last  subject  which  occupied  his  mind  was  how 
he  could  make  lighter  the  burdens  and  diminish  the  suffer- 
ings of  the  poor. 

The  Emperor's  domestic  habits  were  simple.  The 
Emperor  and  Empress  generally  breakfasted  alone  with 
the  Prince  Imperial,  while  residing  at  the  Tuileries — 
although  when  at  Saint  Cloud,  or  Fontainebleau,  or  Com- 
piegne,  the  midday  breakfast  or  lunch  was  taken  with 
the  company  in  the  palace. 

The  hour  fixed  for  dinner,  at  the  Tuileries,  was  seven 
o'clock,  and  it  was  then  only  that  their  Majesties  were- 
in  the  habit  of  meeting  at  table  the  guests  of  the  palace, 
generally  from  twelve  to  eighteen  in  number,  who  in- 
cluded the  officers  and  ladies  of  the  palace  who  were  on 
duty  for  the  day,  and  one  or  more  guests.      The  table 


CHARACTER    OF    THE    EMPEROR  39 

dinner  service  was  very  elegant,  and  the  cooking  as  nearly- 
perfect  as  possible,  with  fresh  fruit  of  every  sort  in  all 
seasons. 

But  there  was  little  ceremony  and  the  formalities  were 
few.  The  dinner  was  served  with  the  greatest  order  and 
promptness.  Rarely  more  than  three-quarters  of  an  hour 
was  spent  at  dinner.  And  the  time  always  seemed  even 
less  than  this,  if  the  Emperor  was  in  good  spirits,  for  he 
generally  led  the  conversation,  which  was  sure  to  be  most 
interesting  and  entertaining;  the  news  of  the  day,  remi- 
niscences, stories — these  were  his  favorite  subjects.  He 
liked  to  address  his  conversation  to  some  one  in  particular, 
and  to  say  something  amiable  to  each  of  the  guests ;  but 
avoided  saying  anything  of  persons — in  fact  all  talk  about 
persons  was  strictly  tabooed  at  the  Imperial  table. 

After  dinner  the  company  passed  into  the  Salon 
d 'Apollo — a  splendid  room  with  a  lofty  ceiling,  and  mag- 
nificently furnished  after  the  style  of  Louis  XIV. — where 
coffee  was  served.  The  Emperor  always  took  his  coffee- 
standing,  smoking  at  the  same  time  a  cigarette — the  gentle- 
men standing  around  and  the  ladies  being  seated.  After 
a  general  conversation  for  perhaps  a  quarter  of  an  hour 
the  Emperor  was  usually  in  the  habit  of  quietly  withdraw- 
ing to  his  private  rooms,  on  the  floor  below,  where  he 
could  look  over  his  papers  and  smoke  his  cigarettes  at 
his  ease. 

Often,  however,  he  reappeared  at  ten  o'clock,  when 
tea  was  served,  and  remained  chatting  with  the  company 
for  a  while,  or  sometimes  sat  listening  but  taking  no  part 
in  the  conversation  until  he  finally  retired  for  the  night, 
The  Empress  generally  left  the  salon  about  half  past 
eleven. 

The  rooms  in  his  palace  which  the  Emperor  selected 
for  dwelling-rooms  were  chosen  and  furnished  with  regard 
to  comfort,  rather  than  for  luxurious  display.  He  occu- 
pied a  few  chambers  having  low  ceilings  on  the  ground 


40  THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

floor  of  the  Tuileries  between  the  Pavilion  de  1  'Horloge  and 
the  Pavilion  de  Flore.  Queen  Victoria  of  England,  in 
her  diary,  speaking  of  the  Emperor's  rooms,  says: 

"  In  his  bedroom  are  busts  of  his  father  and  uncle, 
and  an  old  glass  case,  which  he  had  with  him  in  England, 
containing  relics  of  all  sorts  that  are  peculiarly  valuable 
to  him.  In  some  of  the  other  rooms  are  portraits  of  Na- 
poleon, Josephine,  his  own  mother  with  his  elder  brother, 
and  one  of  her  with  his  brother  and  himself  as  little 
children." 

The  walls  of  the  room  where  he  spent  most  of  his  time, 
were  covered  with  miniatures  of  the  Imperial  family,  and 
the  room  itself  contained  a  beautiful  collection  of  arms, 
and  many  historical  relics  and  documents  of  the  greatest 
value. 

He  loved  this  room  above  all.  It  was  his  "  snuggery." 
Here  he  could  feel  that  he  was  free  indeed;  here  he  could 
put  on  the  loosest  trousers,  and  the  coat  that  he  liked,  and 
drop  where  he  pleased  the  ashes  of  his  cigarettes,  of  which 
his  pockets  always  contained  a  seemingly  inexhaustible 
supply.  And  here,  amid  heaps  of  papers,  books,  and  mod- 
els, he  spent  the  hours,  indulging  in  pleasant  reminiscences 
of  the  past  or  devoting  himself  to  serious  studies  of 
the  great  questions  that  directly  concerned  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  Government,  or  the  international  policy  of 
France.  And  he  gave  here,  also,  audiences  to  scholars, 
inventors,  and  men  of  science,  talking  with  them  about 
history  and  archaeology,  the  latest  invention,  or  the  most 
recent  discovery. 

How  often  have  I  been  with  the  Emperor  in  this  room ! 
And  how  often  had  I  here  an  opportunity  of  admiring  the 
clear,  and  intelligent,  and  wise  remarks  he  made  in  regard 
to  the  most  varied  subjects!  There  was  nothing  of  im- 
portance going  on  in  his  Empire,  or  in  other  countries, 
in  which  he  was  not  interested;  and,  notwithstanding  the 
cares  of  Government,  and  his  numerous  preoccupations,  he 


CHARACTER    OF    THE    EMPEROR  41 

always  found  time  to  inform  himself  concerning  the  scien- 
tific and  industrial  accomplishments  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury. He  especially  liked  to  talk  about  the  marvelous  in- 
ventions and  the  practical  improvements  which  were 
brought  to  Europe  from  the  United  States ;  it  was  here  in 
this  room  on  the  ground  floor  of  the  palace,  looking  out 
upon  the  garden  of  the  Tuileries,  that  we  had  our  long  con- 
versations with  regard  to  the  trans- Atlantic  cable,  the  new 
tramways,  army  hospitals,  sanitary  institutions,  and  other 
American  applications  of  art  and  science  by  which  the 
whole  world  has  been  benefited. 

Napoleon  III.  was  a  most  industrious  man.  He  re- 
tired late  and  rose  early.  My  professional  appointments 
were  very  often  fixed  for  some  early  hour  in  the  morning. 
When  I  arrived,  I  generally  found  him  in  his  cabinet  and 
learned  that  he  had  been  there  several  hours,  hard  at  work, 
with  books  and  documents  and  memoranda  at  hand,  study- 
ing some  special  subject,  or  writing  out  abstracts,  or  pre- 
paring a  paper  for  some  particular  occasion. 

He  was  very  fond  of  writing,  and  took  great  pleasure 
in  sending  to  the  Press  communications  to  be  published 
anonymously.  Early  in  life,  he  began  to  exhibit  his  rare 
talent  as  a  writer  and  also  as  a  journalist.  And  what  he 
wrote  was  always  well  written.  He  needed  no  help  in 
his  literary  work.  Once  his  materials  were  in  hand,  he 
preferred  to  frame  his  own  paragraphs  and  to  polish  his 
own  periods.  It  was  the  subject  that  interested  him.  He 
had  no  fancy  for  superfluous  words,  or  metaphors,  or  elab- 
orate ornament,  but  expressed  his  thought  with  direct- 
ness, in  language  that  was  definite  and  transparent,  sane 
and  sonorous,  and  which  at  times  was  almost  lapidary  in 
its  terseness.  His  published  speeches,  proclamations, 
and  letters  are,  many  of  them,  remarkable  examples  of 
clear  and  forcible  literary  expression.  There  can  be  no 
question  about  their  authorship.     It  used  to  be  said  that 


42  THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

Moequard  gave  to  them  their  clarity  and  finish.  The  death, 
however,  of  this  accomplished  chef  du  cabinet  did  not  affect 
in  the  least  the  quality  of  the  literary  work  of  Napoleon 
III.  For  many  reasons  he  was  careful  to  submit  what  he 
wrote  to  the  criticism  of  experts.  But  his  own  judgment 
was  the  final  authority  for  his  literary  style.  It  is  a  case  in 
which  one  may  plainly  see  that  the  style  is  the  man.  His 
acknowledged  writings  from  first  to  last,  without  exception, 
bear  the  same  stamp,  and  are  the  products  of  the  same 
mind.  Had  Louis  Napoleon  not  been  an  Emperor  he  would 
have  been  counted  one  of  the  ablest  publicists  and  esteemed 
as  one  of  the  most  brilliant  writers  of  his  time. 

I  may  relate  here  a  little  incident  which  will  go  to 
show  that  the  Emperor's  literary  ability — and,  perhaps, 
in  the  case  I  am  about  to  mention,  his  political  tact  also 
— when  recognized  was  not  always  admired. 

It  may  be  remembered  that  M.  Thiers  was  very  friendly 
to  Prince  Louis  on  the  latter 's  return  to  France  in  1848. 
When  the  Prince  began  to  think  of  becoming  a  candidate 
for  the  Presidency  of  the  Republic,  he  consulted  M.  Thiers 
about  it,  and  asked  him  what  he  thought  of  his  publishing 
a  declaration  of  political  principles,  telling  him  that  if  he 
would  consider  the  subject  he  (the  Prince)  would  think 
it  over  also. 

A  few  days  later  the  Prince  called  his  friends  together, 
and  laid  before  them  two  drafts  of  an  address  to  his  fellow- 
citizens.  On  the  first  one  being  read,  it  was  pronounced 
'fine";  it  was  long,  well-developed,  carefully  written, 
and  sonorous,  but  intentionally  vague.  The  second  one 
was  then  called  for.  It  was  short,  concise,  simple,  clear 
— something  that  "  he  who  ran  might  read."  Every  one 
who  heard  it  was  delighted.  The  preference  given  to  it 
was  unanimous.  The  Prince  then  said  to  his  friends, 
"  You  embarrass  me  greatly;  the  first  draft  that  I  read 
was  written  by  M.  Thiers,  the  second  one  by  myself." 

"  But  yours  is  the  best!  "  they  all  exclaimed. 


CHARACTER    OF    THE    EMPEROR  43 

And  in  consequence  the  draft  of  the  Prince  was  adopted 
and  published  without  the  alteration  of  a  word. 

On  hearing  what  had  taken  place  at  this  meeting,  M. 
Thiers  was  greatly  exasperated.  Not  only  had  his  literary 
self-esteem  been  wounded,  but  he  foresaw  that  the  Prince, 
should  he  be  elected  to  the  Presidency  of  the  Republic,  would 
be  quite  able  to  dispense  with  his  services  in  connection 
with  more  important  matters.  He  pronounced  the  mani- 
festo of  the  Prince  "  imprudent,"  and  declared  that 
not  he,  but  his  friend,  M.  de  Remusat,  had  written  the 
rejected  address,  and,  of  course,  finally  went  over  to  the 
Opposition.* 

The  Emperor  was  generally  slow  to  form  friendships, 
but,  when  once  made,  they  were  lasting.  They  were  not 
broken  by  calumnious  stories — these  he  never  cared  to 
listen  to.  "  You  have  no  need  to  defend  yourself,"  he 
said  one  day  to  one  of  his  friends,  ' '  the  more  they  calum- 
niate you,  the  more  I  love  you." 

The  Emperor  despised  flattery  and  even  the  semblance 
of  it.  Unlike  most  princes,  he  knew  men  only  too  well.  If 
he  asked  of  any  one  his  opinion  on  a  subject  it  was  in  the 
hope  that  the  person  consulted  would  not  hesitate  to  make 
known  his  real  opinion,  however  opposed  it  might  be  to 
the  one  he  himself  had  formed ;  and  he  never  took  offense, 
even  when  the  contrary  opinion  was  the  blunt  expression 
of  a  political  difference,  provided  it  was  sincerely  held. 
In  fact,  it  was  by  just  such  an  expression  that  M.  Duruy, 
the  famous  Minister  of  Public  Instruction  under  the  Em- 
pire, first  won  the  esteem  and  confidence  of  his  sovereign. 

*  This  incident  is  related  somewhat  differently  in  the  Life  of 
Napoleon  the  Third,  by  Blanchard  Jerrold,  who  gives  as  his  authority 
Albert  Mansfeld,  a  German  writer.  But  the  account  in  the  text  is  the 
Emperor's  own  version  of  the  origin  of  the  manifesto.  See  also  "Sou- 
venirs du  Second  Empire,"  par  M.  Granier  de  Cassagnac,  partie  pre- 
miere, p.  53. 


44  THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

Having  been  invited  to  look  over  some  chapters  of  the 
"  Life  of  Csesar,"  which  the  Emperor  was  then  writing, 
M.  Duruy  did  not  hesitate  to  criticize  with  great  frank- 
ness the  work  of  the  Imperial  author.  On  coming  to  a 
passage  in  which  Ca?sar  was  commended  for  having 
usurped  the  sovereign  power,  and  it  was  asserted  that 
when  public  order  was  in  danger  the  usurpation  of  au- 
thority might  become  necessary,  turning  to  his  Majesty 
M.  Duruy  said:  "  I  cannot  allow  this  justification  of  a 
violation  of  law  to  pass  without  notice.  There  have  been 
coups  d'Etat — but  we  should  try  to  forget  them." 

So  far  was  the  Emperor  from  showing  any  displeasure 
at  this  remark,  made  with  great  seriousness,  that  he  smiled 
and  said  most  amiably :  "  I  quite  agree  with  you — we  will 
strike  it  out." 

In  the  important  duties  that  M.  Duruy  was  not  long 
afterward  called  upon  to  assume,  and  in  the  discharge  of 
which  he  was  often  violently  opposed  by  the  clerical  and 
reactionary  sections  of  French  society,  and  by  certain 
members  of  the  Government  also,  he  never  failed  to  obtain 
the  most  cordial  cooperation  and  support  of  the  Emperor, 
who  seemed  to  take  great  delight  in  silencing  the  enemies 
of  his  high-minded  and  liberal  Minister  by  a  single  phrase 
■ — "  Duruy  est  un  honnete  Jwmme." 

And  the  Emperor  himself  was  un  honnete  homme  also, 
when  he  said,  "  I  quite  agree  with  you."  It  is  well 
known  to  those  who  were  intimate  with  Napoleon  III.  that 
the  coup  d'Etat  of  the  2d  of  December  was  an  act  for 
which  he  had  no  admiration,  and  to  which  he  never  re- 
ferred except  to  excuse  it.  "  My  friends,"  he  said,  while 
living  at  Camden  Place,  "  were  often  urging  me  to  have 
some  monument  erected  commemorative  of  this  event;  but 
notwithstanding  that  the  coup  d'Etat  was  afterward  legal- 
ized by  the  votes  of  eight  millions  of  Frenchmen,  I  refused 
to  celebrate  an  action  which,  although  in  my  opinion  nec- 
essary, was  nevertheless  a  violation  of  the  law." 


CHARACTER    OF    THE    EMPEROR  45 

The  Emperor  disliked  to  have  any  one  beat  about  the 
bush  in  the  endeavor  to  persuade  or  convince  him.  A 
straightforward,  concise  statement  of  the  case  without 
phrases  was  what  he  wanted.     One  day  when  I  was  with 

him,  Dr.  R ,  who  was  attending  his  uncle,  Jerome,  the 

ex-King  of  Westphalia,  in  some  illness  or  other,  came  to 
report  to  him  the  condition  of  the  patient.  The  Emperor, 
not  wishing  to  have  him  come  into  the  room,  did  not  request 
him  to  do  so,  but  asked  him  how  his  uncle  was  getting  on. 
Standing  by  the  open  door,  the  Doctor  described  in  learned 
language  and  ponderous  technical  terms,  and  at  great 
length,  the  symptoms  of  the  case  and  the  condition  of  the 
patient.  When  he  went  away,  the  Emperor  turned  to 
me  and  said :  "I  suppose  all  that — means  that  my  uncle 
has  a  bad  cold.  Why  didn't  he  say  so  simply,  without 
that  long-drawn-out  scientific  dissertation?  He  wished,  I 
suppose,  to  impress  me  with  a  sense  of  his  importance." 

The  Emperor  was  very  tenacious  of  his  opinions;  but 
was  an  excellent  listener  to  opinions  not  his  own;  he  could 
even  tolerate  the  talk  of  a  dunce.  Indeed,  as  has  been  very 
justly  remarked,  one  of  his  most  enviable  characteristics 
was  his  patience  with  fools. 

In  a  letter  written  to  his  cousin,  Prince  Napoleon,  in 
1849,  he  says :  "  I  shall  always  strive  to  govern  in  the  in- 
terest of  the  masses  and  not  in  those  of  a  party.  I  honor 
the  men  who  by  their  capacity  and  experience  can  give  me 
good  advice;  I  receive  daily  the  most  contradictory  coun- 
sel; but  I  follow  only  the  impulses  of  my  reason  and  my 
heart." 

He  disliked  discussion;  but  if  he  seemed  to  have  very 

little  desire  to  convince  others,  he  rarely  abandoned  an 

idea  or  a  purpose  were  it  once  entertained.     To  his  mother 

he  was,  when  a  child,  the  "  gentle  headstrong  one  '     (le 

doux  entete) — so  rarely  was  he  insistent,  so  firmly  he  held 

to  his  purpose.     If  obstacles  stood  in  his  path  he  could 

wait  for  the  opportune  moment,  but  never  forgot  to  act 
5 


46  THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

when  the  time  came.  It  was  very  easy  for  him  to  give 
way;  it  was  extremely  hard  for  him  to  give  up. 

His  persistency  of  belief  in  his  destiny,  in  spite  of 
repeated  and  disastrous  failure — his  fixity  of  purpose,  even 
to  the  details  of  administration — in  a  word,  the  unflinching 
tenacity  with  which  he  held  to  whatever  was  a  matter  of 
conviction  with  him,  and  which  was  perhaps  the  most  dis- 
tinctive feature  in  the  character  of  this  very  remarkable 
man,  is  strikingly  illustrated  by  the  following  anecdote  told 
by  Sir  Archibald  Alison : 

"  The  Duke  of  N said  to  me  in  1854:  '  Several 

years  ago,  before  the  Revolution  of  1848,  I  met  Louis  Na- 
poleon often  at  Brodick  Castle  in  Arran.  We  frequently 
went  out  to  shoot  together.  Neither  cared  much  for  the 
sport ;  and  we  soon  sat  down  on  a  heathery  brow  of  Goat- 
fell  and  began  to  speak  seriously.  He  always  opened  these 
conferences  by  discoursing  on  what  he  would  do  when 
Emperor  of  France.  Among  other  things,  he  said  he  would 
obtain  a  grant  from  the  Chamber  to  drain  the  marshes  of 
the  Bries,  which,  you  know,  once  fully  cultivated,  became 
flooded  when  the  inhabitants,  who  were  chiefly  Protestants, 
left  the  country  on  the  revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes. 
And  what  is  very  curious,  I  see  in  the  newspapers  of  the 
day  that  he  has  got  a  grant  of  two  millions  of  francs  from 
the  Chamber,  to  begin  the  draining  of  these  very  marshes.' 

The  Emperor,  while  holding  fast  to  what  his  judgment 
had  approved  was  slow  to  form  opinions.  He  wished  to 
examine  every  side  of  the  question  under  consideration; 
and  he  commonly  took  the  time  to  do  so.  He  was  very  fond 
of  asking  questions  about  subjects  in  which  he  took  an 
interest,  of  any  one  who  he  supposed  might  be  able  to 
throw  light  upon  them — even  if  it  were  only  a  side-light. 
This  habit  was  doubtless,  in  part,  a  matter  of  tempera- 
ment, but  it  was  a  habit  that  was  strengthened  by  having 
a  practical  end  in  view — he  wished  to  form  his  own  opin- 
ions; and,  consequently,  to  see  for  himself  what  was  to  be 


CHARACTER    OF    THE    EMPEROR  47 

seen,  and  in  doing  this  he  liked  particularly  to  look  into 
the  dark  corners  of  things.  Indeed,  in  all  matters  of  public 
concern  he  sought  for  information,  when  he  could,  at  first 
hand,  with  a  view  of  obtaining  such  a  direct  and  personal 
knowledge  of  things  as  would  enable  him,  should  there  be 
occasion,  to  check  off,  as  it  were,  the  more  formal  infor- 
mation that  came  to  him  through  official  sources,  and  thus 
more  clearly  understand  its  real  value  and  significance. 
Credited  by  the  world  with  being  an  absolute  and  respon- 
sible sovereign,  he  had  no  wish  to  be  the  slave  of  his  own 
bureaucracy. 

I  shall  have  occasion  elsewhere  to  speak  at  length  of 
my  relations  to  the  Emperor  as  a  source  of  information 
concerning  matters  with  which  I  was  personally  acquainted 
and  about  which  I  was  supposed  to  be  well  qualified  to 
speak.  But  the  habit  above  mentioned  may  be  illustrated 
by  the  following  incident : 

In  the  winter  of  1868-69,  the  Hon.  Anson  Burlingame 
came  to  Paris  at  the  head  of  a  special  and  very  impor- 
tant Chinese  Mission.  Mr.  Burlingame  was  a  warm  per- 
sonal friend  of  mine,  and,  from  the  moment  of  his  arrival 
in  the  French  capital,  I  saw  him  almost  every  day.  Just 
before,  or  soon  after,  the  Mission  reached  Europe,  I  spoke 
to  his  Majesty  about  it,  saying  that  Mr.  Burlingame  was 
an  old  acquaintance  and  friend.  ' '  Oh, ' '  said  he,  "  I  wish 
you  would  tell  me  who  he  is,  and  just  what  the  object  of 
this  Mission  is."  "  Sire,"  I  replied,  "  I  can  tell  you  at 
once  who  Mr.  Burlingame  is — but  I  fear  that  I  cannot  tell 
you  now,  just  what  he  hopes  to  accomplish  here."  "  Very 
well,"  said  his  Majesty — "  I  wish  then  you  would  find  out 
why  this  Mission  has  been  created — what  powers  it  has, 
what  it  has  done,  and  what  is  wanted  of  us,  and  let  me 
know.  Put  any  facts  you  have  to  give  me  in  writing — not 
at  great  length,  but  summarily." 

It  will  be  easily  understood  that  I  had  no  difficulty 
in  obtaining  the  information  desired.     And  very  soon  after 


48  THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

our  conversation,  I  had  the  pleasure  of  communicating  it 
to  his  Majesty  in  the  form  he  had  requested. 

When,  subsequently,  this  Mission  entered  into  official 
relations  with  the  French  Government,  and  its  proposals 
became  the  subject  of  deliberations  in  the  Imperial  Coun- 
cil, his  Majesty  was  thoroughly  familiar  with  every  aspect 
of  the  ease. 

The  accurate  knowledge  the  Emperor  occasionally  ex- 
hibited about  things  he  was  presumed  to  be  quite  igno- 
rant of,  was  very  remarkable  and,  sometimes,  the  cause  of 
great  astonishment  to  his  Councilors.  How  he  obtained 
his  information  was  no  secret  to  those  who  were  acquainted 
with  his  habit  of  extracting  information  from  those  that 
possessed  it  and  were  cognizant  of  the  care  and  the  per- 
sistence with  which  he  studied,  quite  by  himself  and  for 
himself,  every  subject  that  concerned  the  welfare  of  the 
people  or  the  prestige  of  the  Empire.  In  matters  of  action, 
especially,  he  desired  to  have  nothing  left  to  chance,  but 
to  have  what  was  done,  done  with  consideration — the  con- 
tingencies, so  far  as  possible,  foreseen  and  properly  pro- 
vided for. 

His  prudence,  his  extreme  caution  even,  was  one  of 
the  most  remarkable  traits  of  his  character — the  one, 
perhaps,  with  which  the  general  public  is  least  familiar; 
for  if  it  was  a  trait  that  few  could  fail  to  observe,  it  was 
commonly  and  wrongly  supposed  to  indicate  hesitancy  and 
indecision,  rather  than  a  clear  sense  of  the  unwisdom  of 
acting  without  knowledge  and  without  reflection.  More- 
over his  confidence  in  his  destiny  would  seem  to  preclude 
the  need  of  knowledge  or  of  caution  in  the  execution  of 
the  work  he  aimed  to  accomplish.  But  Louis  Napoleon's 
trust  in  "  destiny,"  like  Cromwell's  "  trust  in  God,"  in 
no  way  lessened  the  strength  of  his  conviction  that  it  was 
very  important  at  the  same  time  to  "  keep  the  powder 
dry  ";  or  the  firmness  of  his  belief  in  the  assurance  of 
a  greater  authority  that — "  faith  without  works  is  dead 


5  > 


CHARACTER  OF  THE  EMPEROR    49 

It  may  be  safely  said  that  he  engaged  in  no  serious 
undertaking  without  looking  at  it  in  all  its  aspects,  and, 
if  it  was  attended  with  risks  and  perils,  without  having 
weighed  them  carefully  in  his  own  mind.  In  consequence 
he  was  never  taken  unawares  nor  surprised  by  any  event, 
and  was  thus  morally  able  to  accept  and  to  bear  all  that 
fortune  gave  to  him,  whether  of  good  or  bad. 

I  presume  that  many — perhaps  most — of  the  persons 
who  have  read  the  historical  account  of  Louis  Napoleon's 
attempt  to  capture  the  garrison  at  Strasbourg,  in  1836, 
or  the  story  of  his  expedition  to  Boulogne,  made  four 
years  later,  were  astonished  at  the  audacity  of  the  Prince, 
and  at  the  apparent  absence  of  any  just  appreciation  on 
his  part  of  the  very  probable  consequences  of  these  at- 
tempts. To  some  persons  they  have  doubtless  seemed  to 
be  the  acts  of  a  man  who  was  mad.  And  they  might  be 
properly  so  characterized  had  they  been  determined  by 
the  facts  and  conditions  then  existing,  as  understood  by 
the  world  at  large.  But  no  man  was  more  sane  or  per- 
spicacious than  he,  when  he  made  these  attempts  to  over- 
throw the  Government  of  Louis  Philippe,  single-handed — 
but  in  the  name  of  his  uncle.  He  then  clearly  perceived 
how  profoundly  the  memory  of  Napoleon  was  cherished 
by  the  French  people,  and  correctly  estimated  the  feeble- 
ness of  the  monarchy,  and  the  incomparable  power  of  that 
sovereignty  of  which  he  was  the  living  representative.  A 
few  years  later  the  whole  world  saw  that  he  had  committed 
no  error  of  judgment,  but  was  right  when  he  believed  him- 
self to  be  strong  enough  to  revive  in  France  the  system 
of  Napoleon — an  Imperial  democracy — if  he  could  but  ob- 
tain a  foothold  in  his  country.  He  knew  perfectly  well 
that  any  endeavor  to  do  this  forcibly  would  be  attended 
with  great  risks;  and  they  were  carefully  counted,  but 
calmly  regarded. 

If  he  failed  to  accomplish  his  purpose  at  Strasbourg, 
and  again  at  Boulogne,  it  was  not  because  the  scheme  itself 


50  THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

was  not  feasible,  but  because  its  success  was  made  impos- 
sible, in  each  case,  by  the  misunderstandings  and  blun- 
ders of  those  who  were  more  directly  responsible  for  its 
execution. 

These  revolutionary  attempts  were  certainly  audacious. 
What  makes  them  still  more  remarkable  is  the  clairvoyant 
judgment  of  the  political  situation  in  France  that  prompted 
them,  and  the  cool  deliberation  with  which  they  were 
planned  or  plotted. 

This  same  trait  of  character — his  extreme  cautiousness 
— could  not  be  better  illustrated  than  by  an  incident  that 
occurred  at  the  time  of  the  Paris  Exposition  of  1867,  and 

which  was  reported  to  me  by  my  friend,  Dr.  C .     "  I 

had  come, ' '  said  he,  ' '  one  morning  quite  early  to  the  pavil- 
ion containing  the  United  States  Sanitary  Commission's  ex- 
hibit. As  there  was  no  one  in  the  building,  and  very  few 
people  were  in  the  grounds  at  that  hour,  I  took  a  cigar 
from  my  pocket,  lighted  it,  and  sat  dovra  to  look  over  a 
morning  paper.  I  had  been  seated  but  a  moment,  when 
I  heard  an  unusual  trampling  of  feet  on  the  gravel  walk 
near  by,  and  on  looking  up  to  discover  the  cause  of  this 
commotion,  I  saw  a  gentleman  approaching  the  open  door 
of  the  pavilion,  quite  alone — but  followed  at  a  short  dis- 
tance by  two  others,  behind  whom,  a  little  farther  away, 
a  crowd  of  people  had  gathered.  Recognizing  instantly 
who  my  visitor  was  I  hastily  laid  on  a  table  that  stood 
conveniently  near  me  my  freshly  lighted  cigar,  and 
stepped  forward  to  meet  the  Emperor.  He  greeted  me 
with  a  pleasant  smile,  and  addressing  me  in  English,  said : 
'  Is  this  the  collection  of  Dr.  Evans?  '  I  told  him  that 
it  was;  and  then  he  immediately  began  to  ask  me  ques- 
tions about  the  objects  near  him.  Passing  on  from  one 
to  another,  we  moved  slowly  around  the  room — he  evi- 
dently quite  interested  in  what  he  saw  and  heard,  and  I 
greatly  delighted  to  have  an  opportunity  to  explain  these 
things  to  so  distinguished  a  visitor.    Finally  we  came  to  the 


CHARACTER    OF    THE    EMPEROR  51 

beautiful  model  of  one  of  the  United  States  Army  post  hos- 
pitals that  stood  upon  a  broad,  wooden  table  covered  with 
green  cloth.  I  was  quite  proud  of  this  model,  and  particu- 
larly invited  the  attention  of  his  Majesty  to  it,  and  began 
to  talk  very  enthusiastically  about  it  and  the  great  hospital 
it  so  admirably  represented.  But  suddenly  I  stopped 
speaking,  for  I  observed  that  his  Majesty  was  not  listening 
to  me,  nor  even  looking  at  the  model.  His  eyes  were  fas- 
tened upon  another  object ;  and  then,  to  my  astonishment,  I 
saw  him  reach  out  his  hand  and  with  thumb  and  finger  pick 
up  the  cigar  I  had  just  laid  down,  and  place  it,  with  the 
half-inch  of  white  ashes  still  sticking  to  the  end,  on  the 
hard,  solid  base  of  the  model. 

"  My  confusion  can  be  imagined  when,  after  having 
thus  disposed  of  the  cause  of  offense,  the  Emperor  turned 
to  me,  and  with  a  quizzical  expression  on  his  face,  and 
in  the  gentlest  possible  tone  of  voice,  said:  '  I  think  it 
would  be  safer  there — don't  you?  You  see  the  cloth  on 
which  it  lay  is  inflammable,  and  so  is  the  table  under  it. 
And  if  by  chance  they  should  take  fire — as  the  pavilion 
is  constructed  wholly  of  light  wood  and  cloth,  and  the 
buildings  that  are  grouped  around  it  are  equally  frail 
and  combustible — it  would  be  impossible  to  tell  what  a 
disaster  might  follow — n'est  ce  pas?  ' 

"  Of  course,  I  entirely  agreed  with  his  Majesty  that  it 
would  be  a  calamity  to  have  this  splendid  Exposition 
brought  to  an  end  in  such  a  way.  And  he  smiled  again 
most  complaisantly,  evidently  greatly  amused  at  my  ill- 
concealed  embarrassment. 

He  had,  however,  given  me  a  lesson,  which  I  am  sure 
I  accepted  at  the  time  with  due  humility,  and  which  I  have 
never  since  forgotten — namely,  be  always  mindful  that 
a  little  spark  may  kindle  a  great  flame,  and  act  accord- 
ingly. 

' '  And  when  the  Emperor  had  gone — '  No, '  I  said  to  my- 
self, '  M.  Thiers  may  launch  his  sarcasms  and  M.  Emile  de 


52  THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

Girardin  may  rave,  but  there  will  be  no  war  between 
France  and  Prussia  about  this  Luxembourg  question.  The 
man  who  is  so  far-seeing,  so  cautious,  so  apprehensive  even 
of  the  consequences  that  might  follow  from  what  would 
seem  to  most  men  a  trifle,  is  not  likely  to  risk  his  throne 
over  this  miserable  affair — if  he  can  help  it.  And,  as  he 
has  the  power  in  his  own  hands,  the  peace  of  Europe  will 
be  preserved.' 

' '  And  it  was  preserved. ' ' 

His  cautiousness,  his  slowness,  his  hesitancy  to  come 
to  a  decision  were  in  striking  contrast  with  the  boldness 
and  swiftness  with  which  he  acted  when  he  had  finally 
decided  upon  the  course  to  be  taken,  and  felt  that  the  op- 
portune moment  had  come.  Having  resolved  to  accomplish 
a  purpose,  to  reach  an  object,  he  was  prompt  to  move. 
Were  the  undertaking  difficult  or  dangerous  to  execute,  his 
activity  was  prodigious,  his  self-control  extraordinary,  and 
the  reserve  of  energy  upon  which  he  drew  apparently  inex- 
haustible. Then  it  was  that  his  nature  seemed  to  be  en- 
tirely transformed,  and  the  man  who  was  as  tender-hearted 
as  a  woman  in  the  presence  of  suffering,  and  who  shrank 
from  pain  like  a  child,  could  act  without  feebleness  and 
endure  without  a  murmur. 

Absolutely  fearless  when  the  time  for  action  came,  but 
deliberate,  cautious,  and  careful  at  every  step  that  led  to 
it — such  was  Napoleon  III. 

He  was  always  the  complete  master  of  his  own  thoughts 
and  emotions.  Generally  grave  and  serious,  he  could  not 
only  be  amused  and  join  in  the  merriment  of  the  hour,  but 
could,  on  occasion,  laugh  as  heartily  as  any  one.  He  was 
quick  to  see  the  comic  features  of  an  incident  or  situation, 
and  often  greatly  enjoyed  a  witticism,  or  an  epigram.  He 
was,  however,  himself  too  polite  and  too  kind  to  be  clever  at 
the  expense  of  the  feelings  of  others.  His  unwillingness  to 
give  pain  to  others  occasionally  led  him  to  show  what  was 


CHARACTER    OF    THE    EMPEROR  53 

thought  to  be  feebleness.  But,  as  he  was  capable  of  acts 
requiring  him  to  ignore  the  promptings  of  sentiment,  so, 
too,  when  he  felt  called  upon  to  say  what  he  thought,  no 
one  could  exceed  him  in  the  keenness  of  his  sarcasm  or 
the  sharpness  of  his  retort.  For  instance,  Prince  Napoleon 
having  petulantly  remarked  to  him  that  he  had  nothing 
of  his  uncle  (the  first  Emperor)  about  him,  he  replied, 
"  You  are  quite  mistaken.     I  have  his  family." 

Or  when,  on  a  certain  occasion,  having  been  told  that 
the  Count  de  Chambord  had  said  that  in  case  he  should 
come  to  the  throne  he  intended  to  secure  the  services  of 
all  the  clever  people  that  Napoleon  III.  had  gathered 
about  him,  he  quickly  retorted,  ' '  Ah,  indeed !  If  he  should 
secure  the  services  of  all  the  clever  people  who  have  gath- 
ered about  me  his  reign  would  be  a  very  short  one." 

But  his  repartees  were  generally  of  the  most  amiable 
kind.  What  would  disturb  the  equanimity  of  most  men 
was  to  him  only  the  occasion  for  a  pleasantry.  For  exam- 
ple, a  little  rascal  having  driven  his  hoop  against  him  while 
he  was  walking  in  the  Bois  de  Boulogne,  on  being  stopped 
by  an  aide-de-camp  and  told  that  it  was  the  Emperor  he  had 
hit,  answered  back,  ' '  I  don 't  care  if  it  is,  my  father  says  he 
is  a  great  scamp."  One  can  imagine  the  amazement  of 
those  who  heard  the  speech  of  this  enfant  terrible.  "  Who 
is  your  father?  "  he  was  at  once  asked. 

'  No,"  said  the  Emperor,  "  I  do  not  wish  to  know;  and 
besides,"  laughing  aloud,  "  it  is  forbidden  in  the  Code  to 
inquire  who  the  father  is. ' ' 

The  instant  reply  on  this  occasion,  "  I  do  not  wish  to 
know,"  reveals  like  a  flash  of  light  the  true  character  of  the 
man  behind  the  impertransible  countenance  the  Emperor 
habitually  wore.  He  never  wished  to  know  who  his  per- 
sonal enemies  were  or  what  they  said  about  him.  He  fre- 
quently surprised  and  vexed  his  intimate  friends  by  the 
kind  things  he  said  of  men  who  had  grossly  abused  him ;  and 
astonished  and  annoyed  them,  perhaps,  still  more  by  the 


54  THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

favors  he  was  ready  to  accord  to  these  men  and  the  official 
positions  he  offered  to  them  and  actually  placed  them  in. 

He  possessed  in  an  unusual  degree  the  gift  of  making 
graceful  little  speeches  on  the  spur  of  the  moment,  to  meet 
a  dilemma,  to  pay  a  compliment,  or  to  protect  a  friend. 
At  a  ball  given  at  the  Tuileries  a  general,  slipping  upon  the 
polished  floor,  was  so  unlucky  as  to  fall  at  the  Emperor's 
feet,  pulling  down  with  him  his  partner.  The  awkward- 
ness of  the  situation  and  the  embarrassment  and  mortifica- 
tion of  the  officer  can  easily  be  imagined.  ' '  Madame, ' '  said 
the  Emperor,  as  he  assisted  the  lady  to  rise,  "  this  is  the 

second  time  General  has  fallen  in  my  presence ;  the 

first  time  was  at  Solf  erino. ' ' 

The  dignity  and  habitual  reticence  which  caused  him  to 
be  often  spoken  of  as  "  a  sphinx  "  by  those  who  did  not 
know  him  intimately,  gave  a  special  saliency  to  these  im- 
promptu expressions  of  intelligent  interest  and  kindly  feel- 
ing. It  is  true  they  frequently  were  not  comprehended  by 
those  who  heard  them  for  the  very  reason  that  they  were 
so  unexpected. 

He  was  always  a  refined  gentleman  in  his  dealings  with 
men,  whoever  they  might  be.  It  is  well  known  that  in  the 
Boulogne  affair  the  Prince  had  the  promised  support  of  a 
number  of  persons  of  high  rank.  But  when  my  friend,  the 
late  Henry  Wikoff,  on  the  death  of  one  of  them  wrote  to 
the  Emperor,  asking  permission  to  mention  his  relations  to 
this  person  at  the  time  referred  to,  the  Emperor  in  a  letter 
written  in  answer  to  this  request  said :  ' '  But  it  is  my  desire 
also  that  even  the  dead  should  not  be  named ;  for  that  might 
be  disagreeable  to  those  who  are  still  living. ' '  He  preferred 
to  have  nothing  said  rather  than  to  permit,  perchance,  the 
feelings  of  any  one  to  be  unnecessarily  wounded. 

It  having  been  reported  to  him  that  Jules  Favre  had 
made  a  number  of  false  declarations  for  the  purpose  of 
concealing  certain  facts  relating  to  his  domestic  life,  and 
that,  if  the  matter  were  brought  before  the  courts,  his  most 


CHARACTER  OF  THE  EMPEROR    55 

bitter  and  persistent  opponent  might  be  silenced  forever — 
"  Stop  vour  enquiries,"  said  he;  "to  attempt  to  destroy 
the  reputation  of  this  man  in  such  a  way  would  be  a  de- 
testable thing." 

When  in  the  bitterness  of  his  defeat — a  prisoner — M. 
Guizot,  in  letters  addressed  to  the  London  Times  in  the 
autumn  of  1870,  grossly  misrepresented  his  opinions,  con- 
duct, and  responsibilities  with  regard  to  the  war,  the  Em- 
press, justly  indignant,  sent  a  despatch  to  him  at  Wilhelms- 
hohe,  in  which  she  suggested  that  the  answer  should  be 
the  publication  of  certain  correspondence  between  the  Gui- 
zots  and  himself.  The  Emperor  telegraphed  back  imme- 
diately :  "  I  forbid  you  to  mention  a  word  of  it.  M.  Guizot 
is  an  illustrious  Frenchman.  I  have  helped  him.  I  do  not 
confer  favors  in  order  that  they  may  become  arms  against 
my  enemies.     Not  a  word." 

These  were  the  sayings  of  a  genuine  man — of  one  of 
Plutarch's  men — the  greatness  of  whose  character  is  to  be 
measured  not  in  the  line  of  historical  achievement  but  by 
the  qualities  of  his  soul. 

His  good-nature  was  never  ruffled  by  trifles;  a  casual 
mistake  of  no  real  moment — a  delay,  some  failure  of  ac- 
complishment, the  maladresse  of  an  attendant  or  of  a  serv- 
ant— was  rarely  noticed.  He  had  too  keen  a  sense  of  the 
relative  importance  of  things.  On  one  occasion,  while  at 
dinner,  an  awkward  waiter  discharged  a  portion  of  the  con- 
tents of  a  seltzer  bottle  in  his  face.  The  poor  man  was 
paralyzed  with  terror;  but  his  Majesty  merely  remarked 
that  the  levers  of  syphons  were  often  treacherous.  I  can- 
not remember,  at  this  moment,  any  trifling  inadvertence  that 
really  seemed  to  annoy  him  except  the  neglect  of  a  person 
leaving  his  room,  to  close  the  door  he  had  opened.  But  a 
failure  of  duty,  an  obvious  carelessness  or  lack  of  order, 
even  in  the  smallest  matter,  seldom  if  ever  escaped  his 
notice ;  and  he  often  directed  the  attention  of  the  person  at 
fault  to  the  expediency  of  more  painstaking. 


56  THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

Kings,  and  Presidents  even,  are  apt  to  be  troubled  by 
the  contentions  and  rivalries  among  those  who  surround 
them,  and  who  are  made  jealous  by  every  preferment  or 
favor  granted.  The  Imperial  Court  being  a  new  establish- 
ment, was  very  often  disturbed,  as  was  to  have  been  ex- 
pected, by  the  grumbling  of  unsatisfied  ambitions,  and  the 
more  or  less  malicious  gossip,  and  the  petty  manifestations 
of  spite  that  are  seldom  absent  where  the  vanities  of  the 
world  are  on  exhibition.  But  the  grumblers  and  the  gos- 
sips received  no  encouragement  from  Napoleon  III.  Scan- 
dals he  wrould  not  tolerate.  Contentions  over  personal 
matters  annoyed  him.  He  wished  to  have  all  those  about 
him  living  together  in  harmony  and  fraternity.  He  was 
the  peacemaker  of  the  palace.  I  could  give  many  in- 
stances within  my  knowledge  in  which  he  so  acted.  But 
none  is  so  striking,  so  eminently  characteristic  of  the 
man,  as  the  one  in  which  he  appeared  as  a  peacemaker 
at  Sedan. 

After  the  raising  of  the  white  flag,  the  Emperor  sent  for 
Generals  Ducrot  and  de  Wimpfen,  requesting  them  to  meet 
him  at  the  Sub-Prefecture.  There  these  two  Commanders- 
in-chief,  immediately  they  met,  regardless  of  the  awful  sit- 
uation— the  dead  and  the  dying  lying  around  them  on  every 
side — and  of  the  urgency  of  coming  to  a  conclusion  quickly 
and  sanely,  began  to  indulge  in  violent  recriminations ;  and 
each,  disclaiming  his  own  responsibility  for  the  disaster, 
proceeded  to  place  the  blame  upon  the  other.  Both  men 
were  greatly  excited  and  seemed  ready  to  seize  each  other 
by  the  throat.  The  scene  was  pitiful  in  the  extreme.  Then 
it  was  that  the  Emperor,  a  sad  witness  of  this  wretched 
conflict — himself  without  a  command,  but  upon  whom  all 
the  responsibility  had  fallen — came  forward  to  intervene, 
and  soothe  with  conciliatory  words  the  wounded  pride  or 
vanity  of  his  generals. 

' '  We  have  all  done  our  best,  as  best  we  understood  it, 
and  as  we  best  could.     Don't  let  us  forget  the  duties  we 


CHARACTER    OF    THE    EMPEROR  57 

still   owe  to  ourselves,   to  the  army,  to   France,   and  to 
humanity. ' ' 

It  is  infinitely  pathetic,  this  attitude  of  the  defeated 
sovereign,  his  calmness,  his  forgetfulness  of  self,  his  con- 
cern for  the  peace  of  mind — for  the  amour  propre  even — of 
others;  and  above  all  the  large  way  in  which  he  sought  to 
look  at  things  when  grief  and  sorrow  were  eating  his  heart 
away. 

The  Emperor  often  seemed  to  be  lost  in  abstraction, 
thinking  about,  or  looking  at,  something  afar  off ;  and,  ap- 
parently, paying  no  attention  to  the  conversation  or  dis- 
cussion that  was  going  on  around  him,  when,  to  the  great 
surprise  of  every  one,  a  sudden,  forcible  remark,  or  a  sharp 
criticism  revealed  the  fact  that  he  had  been  a  most  attentive 
listener. 

It  has  often  been  said  that  the  imperturbability  of  the 
Emperor  was  a  mask  "  put  on  " ;  that  in  fact  he  was  exceed- 
ingly emotional  and  impulsive,  but  had  schooled  himself  to 
conceal  his  feelings  and  dominate  the  strongest  momentary 
inclination ;  that  even  his  slowness  and  hesitancy  of  speech, 
the  habit  of  partly  closing  his  eyes,  and  his  appearance  of 
detachment  were  mannerisms  acquired,  and  not  original  and 
genuine  characteristics.  These  statements,  while  perhaps 
not  absolutely  untrue,  are  fallacious  and  misleading. 

It  is  my  belief  that  the  phlegm  of  the  Emperor  was 
entirely  natural — in  brief  that  he  was  to  the  manner  born. 
The  subjection  in  which  he  was  able  to  hold  his  emotions 
and  feelings,  if  remarkable  in  degree,  was  certainly  not 
unusual  in  kind.  The  dominance  of  the  passions  over  the 
reflective  faculties,  so  characteristic  of  youth  and  inexperi- 
ence, is  commonly  presumed  to  end  when  the  natural  proc- 
esses of  mental  development  have  been  completed  and  the 
age  of  discretion  has  been  reached.  It  is  quite  true  that 
the  Emperor  possessed  a  mind  always  sensitive  and  emo- 
tional in  a  high  degree — but  it  was  a  mind  that  in  its  ma- 


58  THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

turity  was  governed  by  a  powerful  will  directed  by  intel- 
ligence, experience,  and  reason ;  and  it  was  to  this  same  will 
also  that  he  was  indebted  for  his  apparently  inexhaustible 
powers  of  physical  endurance.  His  habits  of  thinking — his 
abstraction — his  reticence — his  peculiarities  of  manner,  all 
his  distinctive  personal  traits  of  character  were  the  prod- 
ucts or  visible  forms  of  his  temperament — a  temperament 
that  was  stamped  upon  every  lineament  of  his  face,  and 
which  it  was  as  impossible  for  him  to  put  off  as  it  would 
have  been  to  put  on. 

That  his  imperturbability,  and  wonderful  power  of  self- 
control,  made  it  extremely  difficult  to  divine  his  inmost 
thoughts  is  unquestionably  true.  But  a  ruler  of  men  is 
under  no  obligation  to  confess  himself  to  those  around  him, 
or  to  tell  the  world  what  he  thinks  about  everything,  how- 
ever curious  everybody  may  be  to  discover  it;  and  a  man 
who  is  able  to  keep  his  opinion  to  himself  is  much  more 
likely  to  owe  this  ability  to  the  possession  of  a  sound  and 
well-disciplined  mind,  than  to  the  use  of  a  mask — a  word 
that  connotes  intentional  deception  and,  consequently,  weak- 
ness rather  than  a  prudent  and  legitimate  reserve. 

His  mental  and  moral  equipoise  was  perfect.  When 
returning  from  Bordeaux,  in  1852,  he  made  his  entry  into 
Paris  and  was  hailed  as  "  Augustus  "  by  the  enthusiastic 
people  and  as  the  ' '  savior  ' '  of  his  country  by  the  Munic- 
ipal Council,  and  the  reestablishment  of  the  Empire  hav- 
ing been  demanded,  he  knew  that  he  was  about  to  realize 
the  supreme  object  of  his  ambition,  not  the  slightest  change 
in  his  deportment  was  visible  to  those  who  were  nearest 
to  him.  And  at  Metz,  when  the  news  of  the  defeats  of  Mac- 
Mahon  and  Frossard  fell  at  head-quarters  like  a  thunder- 
bolt, to  fill  it  with  consternation  and  to  destroy  the  self- 
possession  of  all  about  him,  we  are  told  that  "  his  was  the 
only  cool  head." 

The  masterful  composure  of  Napoleon  III.,  in  every  sit- 
uation and  circumstance,  was  no  concealing  mask  to  be  put 


CHARACTER  OF  THE  EMPEROR    59 

on  and  put  off,  but  a  quality  of  the  mind  that  reveals  very 
clearly  the  intellectual  elevation,  the  moral  force,  and  the 
commanding  character  of  the  man. 

In  this  connection,  I  may  say  that  the  usual  expression 
on  his  face,  when  Prince-President,  was  one  of  absolute 
serenity.  When  Emperor,  his  features,  although  always 
perfectly  composed,  became  more  and  more  grave,  giving 
to  him  the  air  of  a  man  who  was  constantly  thinking  of 
great  and  serious  things.  After  his  days  of  grandeur  and 
power,  when  an  exile  in  his  modest  home  at  Chislehurst,  his 
countenance  wore  the  expression  of  a  man  at  peace  with 
himself,  and  his  manner  was  that  of  the  profound  thinker 
who,  notwithstanding  a  shade  of  sadness  often  noticeable  in 
his  features  or  his  voice,  still  esteemed  himself  superior  to 
the  accidents  of  fortune. 

Although  he  seemed  phlegmatic  and  hesitating,  and 
uncertain  in  his  ordinary  conversation,  and  to  possess  a 
rather  weak  voice,  when  once  aroused  he  no  longer  hesi- 
tated and  his  utterance  was  forcible.  He  expressed  his 
thought  with  directness,  and  on  occasion  with  eloquence. 
His  addresses  before  official  assemblies  or  on  ceremonial  oc- 
casions were  pronounced  or  read  by  him  with  great  effect. 
As  a  public  speaker  he  had  a  remarkably  good  voice — 
smooth,  flexible,  sonorous,  and  full  in  volume — which  he 
used  with  skill,  and  his  enunciation  was  so  distinct  that  no 
word  was  lost.  He  seldom  made  use  of  gestures  but  stood 
firmly  on  his  feet,  and  in  complete  possession  of  himself. 
His  speaking  or  reading  left  upon  those  who  heard  him  an 
impression  of  power.  Its  vocal  effect  was  very  much  like 
that  produced  by  the  reading  of  his  great  and  implacable 
enemy — Victor  Hugo. 

In  religion,  the  Emperor  was  a  Catholic,  and  was  care- 
ful to  comply  with  the  formal  observances  of  his  Church. 
But  he  was  a  liberal  Catholic — a  Gallican  and  not  an  Ultra- 
montane— and  looked  with  sympathy  and  favor  on  every 


60  THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

historical  religious  confession.  He  advocated  religious  lib- 
erty everywhere,  and  gave  directions  that  intolerance,  in 
matters  of  religious  opinion  and  worship,  should  not  be 
permitted  either  in  Prance  or  in  the  dependencies  of  the 
Empire. 

"  Everywhere,  indeed,  where  I  can,"  he  once  said,  "  I 
exert  myself  to  enforce  and  propagate  religious  ideas — but 
not  to  please  a  party. ' ' 

In  ' '  Les  Idees  Napoleoniennes, ' '  Prince  Louis  referring 
to  his  uncle  says :  ' '  He  reestablished  religion,  but  without 
making  the  clergy  a  means  of  government."  And  one  of 
the  questions  he  imagines  that  Napoleon  might  ask,  were  he 
to  return  to  France,  was :  ' '  Have  you  kept  the  clergy  strict- 
ly within  the  limits  of  their  religious  duties,  and  away  from 
political  power?  " 

It  was  because  of  these  liberal  views  with  respect  to  re- 
ligious confessions  and  the  relations  of  the  Church  to  the 
State,  that  the  Emperor  never  ceased  to  be  suspected  of  a 
lack  of  fidelity  to  the  Papal  authority,  whether  temporal 
or  spiritual,  and  was  often  assailed  with  extreme  violence 
by  the  militant  representatives  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church.  Every  one  knows  how  abhorrent  to  M.  Louis  Veu- 
illot  and  his  friends  was  the  effective  work  of  the  Emperor 
in  behalf  of  the  kingdom  of  Italy;  but  perhaps  few  now 
remember  that  his  equally  successful  effort  at  home  to  keep 
the  educational  institutions  of  France  free  from  the  mildew 
of  clericalism  was  equally  productive  of  angry  protest  on 
the  part  of  the  ultra-Catholic  party. 

But  while  he  continued  scrupulously  to  observe  the 
terms  of  the  convention  that  established  the  relations 
between  the  civil  and  ecclesiastical  authorities  in  France, 
he  must  frequently  have  been  reminded  of  the  admission  of  - 
his  uncle,  who,  in  enumerating  the  mistakes  he  had  made, 
said:  "Mais  le  Concordat  est  la  phis  grande  faute  de 
ma  vie." 

In  fact,  the  hostility  of  the  reactionary  wing  of  the 


CHARACTER    OF    THE    EMPEROR  61 

French  Catholic  Church  to  the  policy  of  Napoleon  III.,  con- 
tributed directly  and  powerfully  to  the  overthrow  of  the 
Second  Empire.  And  this  was  finally  accomplished  when 
the  French  Democracy,  under  the  political  leadership  of 
Delescluze  and  Leon  Gambetta,  effected  a  junction  with 
French  clericalism,  under  the  military  leadership  of  Gen- 
eral Trochu.* 

I  think,  however,  that  the  Emperor  was  more  inclined 
to  look  upon  the  Church  as  an  important — a  necessary — 
social  institution,  than  to  regard  it  as  the  keeper  of  the 
keys  of  heaven.  And  yet  he  was  a  firm  believer  in  the 
Kingdom  of  God.  His  fatalism  was  not  a  blind  determin- 
ism, but  a  religious  faith.  It  had  its  origin  in  a  deep  and 
abiding  conviction  that  every  man  is  an  instrument  in  the 
hands  of  God  for  a  purpose ;  and  he  was  fully  persuaded 
that  he  himself — like  Caesar,  Charlemagne,  Napoleon — had 
been  providentially  chosen  to  fulfil  a  mission,  and  that  every 
act  and  every  event  of  his  life,  every  failure  and  every  suc- 
cess, was  a  necessary  and  inevitable  part  of  it. 

The  strong  and  almost  mystical  belief  that  he  had  a 
mission  and  that  it  would  be  accomplished  to  the  end,  in 

*  The  depth  of  the  dislike  of  the  Emperor,  on  the  part  of  the  reac- 
tionary elements  of  the  Roman  Church,  is  even  less  manifest  in  the 
bitter  attacks  openly  directed  against  the  measures  and  the  policy  of 
the  Imperial  Government  than  in  the  insidious  and  persistent  efforts 
of  the  militant  champions  of  the  Papacy  to  teach  the  people  that 
Napoleon  III.  was  an  enemy  of  the  Church.  And  it  is  particularly 
through  the  schools  and  among  the  young  that  they  have  thus  endeav- 
ored to  prejudice  public  opinion.  For  example:  In  the  last  edition 
of  the  "Histoire  de  France  a  l'usage  de  la  jeunesse,"  revised  and  com- 
pleted by  M.  l'Abb6  Courval,  superior  of  the  seminary  of  Seez,  Paris, 
1873,  Napoleon  III.  is  spoken  of  as  follows:  "The  Emperor,  while 
pretending  that  he  wished  to  preserve  the  temporal  power  of  the  Holy 
See,  permitted  the  Pope  to  be  despoiled  of  his  States  by  piecemeal; 
while  France,  the  eldest  daughter  of  the  Church,  stood  by  with  arms  in 
her  hands,  for  more  than  ten  years  a  witness  of  the  consummation  of 
this  iniquitous  sacrilege.  Nor  was  it  long  before  he  received  his 
chastisement";  and  so  forth. — Op.  cit.,  vol  ii,  p.  387. 
G 


62  THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

spite  of  any  human  agency,  was  never  more  strikingly  man- 
ifested than  when,  after  the  failure  of  the  attempt  to  as- 
sassinate him  made  by  Pianori — who  on  the  28th  of  April, 
1855,  discharged  a  revolver  twice,  almost  in  his  face — the 
Senate  came  to  the  Tuileries  in  a  body  to  congratulate  him 
on  his  providential  escape.  "  I  thank  you,"  said  the  Em- 
peror, "  but  I  do  not  fear  in  the  least  the  attempts  of  as- 
sassins. There  are  beings  who  are  the  instruments  of  the 
decrees  of  Providence.  So  long  as  I  shall  not  have  ac- 
complished my  mission,  I  incur  no  danger. ' '  And  he  spoke 
then  as  he  always  spoke  when  expressing  this  belief,  quietly 
and  with  no  show  of  that  tremendous  sense  of  his  own 
importance  in  the  economy  of  the  universe  which  char- 
acterizes most  men  who  fancy  they  have  a  mission  in  the 
world. 

I  never  had  any  reason  to  suppose  that  the  Emperor 
could  with  justice  be  charged  with  vanity.  At  least  he 
was  free  from  that  kind  which,  he  himself  often  admitted, 
was  the  characteristic  French  foible ;  for  his  vanities  were 
impersonal,  and  had  a  purpose.  But  he  was  proud,  very 
proud.  He  knew  that  he  was  a  Bonaparte.  His  reverence 
for  his  famous  uncle  had  in  it  something  more  than  respect 
for  the  prodigious  genius  of  the  man ;  he  felt  that  he  was 
the  heir,  and  the  legitimate  and  sole  heir,  to  all  he  possessed ; 
that  in  him  had  been  incarnated  the  spirit  of  Napoleon; 
and  that  it  was  not  only  his  business  and  his  duty,  but  that 
he  had  been  born  under  Providence,  to  be  the  propagator  of 
the  ideas  of  his  uncle,  and  the  reconstructor  and  continua- 
tor  of  his  work. 

His  foster-sister,  Madam  Cornu,  used  to  relate  a  little 
incident  that  shows  how  early  he  became  imbued  with  the 
Napoleonic  legend. 

Having  remarked  that  Louis  when  a  child  was  of  a  most 
amiable  and  generous  disposition,  she  went  on  to  say  that 
one  day,  when  they  were  playing  together — he  being  about 


CHARACTER  OF  THE  EMPEROR    63 

ten  or  twelve  years  old — he  spoke  of  the  great  Emperor, 
and  told  her  what  he  was  going  to  do  when  he  grew  up  to 
be  a  man ;  and  that  when  she  laughed  at  something  he  had 
said,  he  did  not  seem  to  take  offense,  and  soon  after  invited 
her  very  pleasantly  to  walk  with  him  towards  the  foot  of 
the  garden,  but  that  on  turning  into  a  side-path,  where  they 
were  out  of  sight,  he  suddenly  seized  her  arm  with  both 
hands  and,  with  an  expression  of  intense  anger  on  his  face, 
cried  out,  "  Hortense,  if  you  don't  take  that  back  I'll  break 
your  arm." 

If  he  never  forgot  a  kindness,  he  never  forgot  an  injury, 
and  was  as  sensitive  as  a  woman  to  a  personal  offense. 
When,  on  the  reestablishment  of  the  Imperial  dynasty,  the 
Emperor  Nicholas  declined,  in  acknowledging  the  an- 
nouncement of  this  event,  to  address  him  as  "  Mon  frere," 
according  to  diplomatic  usage,  but  used  instead  the  words 
"  Mon  ami,"  the  Emperor  was  cut  to  the  quick.  It  is 
true  he  is  said  to  have  taken  the  affront  very  calmly,  and 
to  have  been  moved  only  to  remark  that  "  Heaven  gives  us 
our  brothers,  but  we  can  choose  our  friends."  However 
this  may  be,  I  am  quite  sure  that  at  the  time  he  regarded 
the  form  of  address  chosen  by  the  Russian  Emperor  as  an 
intended  indignity  to  be  dealt  with  only  and  properly  by 
a  prompt  suspension  of  diplomatic  relations.  He  finally 
accepted  the  Russian  letter ;  but  I  am  inclined  to  think  that 
he  never  forgot  the  form  of  address  nor  forgave  it — 
although  too  proud  to  acknowledge  that  he  thought  it 
worthy  of  notice.  It  has  been  said  that  had  the  Czar,  on 
this  occasion,  addressed  the  Emperor  as  "  Mon  frire," 
there  would  have  been  no  Crimean  war;  and  it  is  equally 
probable  that  the  remembrance  of  the  reluctant  and  con- 
ditional recognition  of  the  Imperial  title — "  Napoleon  III." 
on  the  part  of  Austria  and  Prussia,  may  have  strongly  pre- 
disposed the  Emperor  to  the  wars  he  subsequently  waged 
with  these  two  Powers. 

In  1859,  not  long  before  war  was  declared  against  Aus- 


64  THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

tria,  the  Emperor  wrote  to  Walewski,  his  Minister  for  For- 
eign Affairs :  ' '  Strong  as  is  my  love  for  everything  that  is 
great  and  noble,  I  would  tread  under  my  feet  reason  itself, 
were  reason  to  wear  the  garb  of  pusillanimity.  Although 
I  may  say  the  contrary,  I  have  deeply  graven  upon  my 
heart  the  tortures  of  St.  Helena  and  the  disaster  of  Water- 
loo. It  is  now  thirty  years  that  these  memories  have  been 
gnawing  at  my  heart.  They  have  caused  me  to  face  with- 
out regret  death  and  captivity.  They  would  cause  me  to 
confront  something  greater  yet — the  future  of  my  coun- 
try. ' '  What  a  self -characterization !  How  suggestive  of 
what  was  to  come! 

But  it  was  his  pride  that  enabled  him  to  support  with 
such  sovereign  dignity  all  the  humiliations  that  befell  him 
after  the  destruction  of  his  armies  and  the  loss  of  his  throne. 
Whatever  weakness  he  may  have  shown  as  Emperor,  as  a 
dethroned  monarch  his  conduct  was  irreproachable.  His 
real  greatness  and  magnanimity,  his  elevation  of  mind  and 
moral  courage,  were  made  evident  by  what  he  did  and  said 
at  Sedan,  and  when  a  prisoner;  but  still  more  not  only 
then,  but  afterward  when  in  exile,  by  what  he  did  not  do 
and  did  not  say.  He  accepted  his  responsibilities  fully. 
He  made  no  attempt  to  lay  the  blame  on  others  for  the  dis- 
asters that  followed  each  other  with  such  frightful  rapidity, 
from  the  opening  of  the  war  to  the  capitulation  at  Sedan. 
He  never  excused  himself,  although  ready  to  excuse  his  gen- 
erals and  his  political  advisers. 

If  the  ambition  of  Napoleon  III.  was  equal  to  that  of 
the  first  Napoleon,  it  was  less  personal  and  more  scrupulous  • 
he  sought  nothing  for  himself  alone,  and  to  him  the  most 
glorious  victories  were  the  victories  of  peace;  but  his 
pride  was  greater  and  more  noble.  If  ambition  led 
to  the  downfall  of  the  first  Napoleon,  pride  may  have  been 
the  cause  of  his  own  downfall ;  but  it  also  finally  preserved 
him  from  railing  against  both  men  and  fate,  after  the  man- 
ner of  his  uncle ;  and,  by  enabling  him  to  live  with  honor  and 


CHARACTER    OF    THE    EMPEROR  65 

to  die  with  dignity,  it  has  secured  to  him  the  sympathy  of 
the  world.  Unmoved  by  calumny,  silent  under  criticism, 
the  serenity — the  superb  stoicism — with  which  Napoleon 
III.  accepted  his  destiny  makes  him  one  of  the  most  remark- 
able characters  in  history. 

The  story  of  his  life  moves  along  from  the  beginning  to 
its  very  end  with  the  perfect  unity  of  action  of  a  Greek 
tragedy. 

"  Nature  prepared  him  for  the  part  he  was  to  take," 
says  M.  Granier  de  Cassagnac,  "  by  endowing  him  with 
qualities  that  are  the  opposites  of  our  faults :  we  seldom 
listen,  he  listened  attentively ;  we  rarely  reflect,  he  was 
meditating  incessantly;  we  get  angry  with  men  and  with 
things;  he  was  gentle  in  his  dealings  with  persons  and 
events.  Such  a.  character  was  beneath  neither  the  gran- 
deur nor  the  perils  of  the  situation,  for  he  joined  to  the 
power  that  at  a  glance  takes  the  measure  of  obstacles,  the 
courage  that  encounters  them  and  the  patience  that  wears 
them  down. ' ' 

If  the  career  of  Napoleon  III.  was  extraordinary,  no  less 
extraordinary  were  the  qualities  of  head  and  heart  with 
which  Nature  had  endowed  him. 


CHAPTER    III 

THE    MARRIAGE   OF   THE   EMPEROR 

Louis  Napoleon  is  advised  to  marry — The  Princess  Caroline — The 
Duchess  of  Hamilton — Ancient  and  modern  Knights — The  Duke 
of  Hamilton — A  great  surprise — Eugenie  de  Montijo;  her  char- 
acter, her  person — The  Emperor  announces  his  engagement — How 
the  announcement  was  received — The  marriage  ceremony — My 
first  visit  to  the  Empress  at  the  Tuileries — A  little  incident — 
The  Empress  does  not  forget  her  old  friends — Pepa — The  char- 
acter of  Eugenie  de  Montijo  unchanged  by  her  elevation  to  a 
throne — Criticism — The  fortune  of  the  Imperial  family — The  de- 
mands upon  the  privy  purse — The  generosity  of  the  Empress — 
Her  first  act  after  her  engagement — Her  visits  to  the  cholera 
hospitals — "Pious  but  not  bigoted" — Her  public  liberalities — 
The  house  parties  at  Compiegne — The  Empress  a  lover  of  the  things 
of  the  mind — The  Suez  Canal — The  character  of  the  Empress 
described  by  the  Emperor — The  Empress  not  exempt  from  the 
defects  of  her  qualities. 

ERY  soon  after  the  coup  d'Etat  the  friends  of 
y£  the  Prince,  as  well  as  the  Government  officials, 
began  to  urge  for  reasons  of  State  the  impor- 
tance and  even  the  necessity  of  his  marriage. 
M.  Thayer,  the  husband  of  the  daughter  of  General  Ber- 
trand,  the  companion  of  Napoleon  at  St.  Helena,  said  to  me 
one  day,  ' '  I  have  just  seen  the  Prince  and  told  him  he  must 
now  get  married,  have  a  family,  and  found  a  dynasty  in 
order  to  continue  and  perpetuate  the  name  of  Napoleon. 
I  told  him  that  he  should  do  this  as  soon  as  possible." 
Then  he  went  on  to  say  that  the  Prince,  pulling  at  his 
mustache,  as  was  his  habit,  replied:  "  I  will  marry;  but 
as  for  founding  a  dynasty,  that  I  cannot  promise." 
66 


MARRIAGE    OF    THE    EMPEROR  67 

It  was  not  without  a  struggle  that  the  Prince  consented 
to  break  away  from  old  attachments  that  had  been  sealed 
by  personal  sacrifices  and  magnanimous  acts  in  his  behalf ; 
nor  was  it  easy  for  him  to  come  to  a  determination  which 
involved  a  complete  change  in  his  habits  of  living.  He 
yielded,  however,  to  the  counsel  of  his  friends. 

The  question  now  was,  whom  should  he  marry  ?  And  it 
was  one  that  interested  a  great  many  persons,  each  of  whom 
had  some  Royal  or  Imperial  princess  to  propose.  What 
intrigues  there  were  to  find  a  wife  for  the  Prince,  planned 
by  people  who  wished  to  closely  connect  themselves  with 
the  Court  of  the  future ! 

But  of  all  these  proposed  matches  there  was  only  one 
that  for  a  time  seemed  probable.  The  Duchess  of  Hamil- 
ton— who  was  the  daughter  of  Stephanie  (Beauharnais), 
the  Grand  Duchess  of  Baden,  and  a  cousin  of  Louis  Napo- 
leon, and  consequently  in  a  position  to  speak  to  him  very 
frankly — advised  him  to  marry  a  Royal  princess,  and 
commended  to  him  her  niece,  Caroline,  the  daughter  of 
Prince  Vasa,  son  of  Gustavus  IV.,  King  of  Sweden.  Prince 
Vasa  was  then  in  exile — a  Field-Marshal  in  the  service  of 
the  Emperor  of  Austria.  He  was  without  fortune;  but  his 
daughter  had  been  brought  up  at  Carlsruhe  and  Baden- 
Baden,  and  it  had  long  been  the  wish  of  the  old  Duchess 
Stephanie  to  make  a  great  marriage  for  this  favorite  grand- 
daughter. With  this  idea  she  had  canvased  the  chances 
of  making  her  the  wife  of  most  of  the  hereditary  princes 
of  Europe. 

The  attention  of  Prince  Louis  was  therefore  turned  to 
the  eligibility  of  this  Princess,  and  the  great  advantage  it 
would  be  to  him  to  be  allied  to  so  many  powerful  Royal 
families,  both  German  and  Swedish,  Catholic  and  Protes- 
tant. It  was  considered  that  such  an  alliance  would  greatly 
strengthen  his  position.  The  Princess  herself  was  all  that 
could  be  desired,  suitable  in  age,  charming  in  personal  ap- 
pearance, intelligent,  and  educated  in  a  superior  manner. 


68  THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

Such  was  the  match  proposed  to  him  by  his  family,  or  by 
one  relative  to  whom  he  was  greatly  attached,  since  he  and 
the  Princess  Mary  had  spent  much  time  together  in  their 
early  days,  both  in  Germany  and  elsewhere. 

The  intimate  relations  of  these  two  cousins,  and  the 
natural  gallantry  and  romantic  temperament  of  the  Prince 
are  shown  in  a  very  striking  and  interesting  manner  in  the 
following  incident: 

One  day  Prince  Louis  Napoleon,  while  on  a  visit  to  the 
Grand  Duchess,  was  walking  on  the  banks  of  the  Rhine 
with  this  cousin  and  her  sisters  Louise  and  Josephine,  when 
the  conversation  turned  upon  the  gallantry  of  men  in  for- 
mer times.  The  Princess  Mary  extolled  in  the  strongest 
terms  the  chivalry  of  those  days  when  the  knight  took  for 
his  motto,  "  God,  my  King,  and  my  Lady,"  and  insisted 
that  men  had  sadly  degenerated  in  modern  times.  The 
Prince  denied  this,  and  asserted  that  in  all  times  knightly 
devotion  was  never  wanting  towards  a  lady  who  was 
worthy  of  inspiring  it,  and  that  the  French,  at  least,  had 
not  degenerated,  but  were  as  brave  and  chivalric  as  their 
ancestors. 

Just  then  a  gust  of  wind  blew  from  the  hat  of  his 
cousin,  Princess  Louise,  a  flower,  which  fell  into  the  river. 

"There!"  said  the  Princess  Mary,  as  the  flower 
drifted  off  into  the  stream,  "  what  a  chance  for  a  knight 
of  the  olden  time  to  show  his  courage  and  devotion !  ' ' 

"  Ah!  "  said  the  Prince,  "  is  that  a  challenge?  Well, 
I  accept  it  " — and,  before  a  word  could  be  spoken,  he 
plunged  into  the  water,  dressed  as  he  was.  One  can  easily 
imagine  the  consternation  and  alarm  of  the  young  ladies. 
But  if  the  Prince  yielded  to  an  audacious  caprice,  he  knew 
the  measure  of  his  strength ;  and  he  swam  out  boldly  into 
the  stream  until  he  reached  the  flower,  when,  having  seized 
it,  he  turned  towards  the  shore  and  breasted  the  current  that 
beat  against  him,  and  threatened  for  a  moment  to  sweep 
him  into  the  rapids  below.     With  a  few  strong  strokes  he 


MARRIAGE  OF  THE  EMPEROR     69 

extricated  himself  from  the  suction  of  the  rapidly  moving 
water  and  gained  a  foothold.  Clambering  up  the  bank, 
dripping  and  somewhat  out  of  breath,  he  walked  up  to  his 
cousin  Mary,  and  with  a  polite  bow  addressing  her,  said: 
' '  I  have  proved  to  you  the  sincerity  of  my  belief.  Here  is 
the  flower,  my  fair  cousin,  but,"  with  a  shiver,  for  it  was 
in  the  winter  that  this  happened,  "  for  Heaven's  sake  I  beg 
of  you  henceforth  to  forget  your  ancient  knights. ' ' 

Two  years  after  this  adventure  the  Princess  Louise  mar- 
ried Gustavus  Vasa,  and  the  Princess  Caroline  was  her 
daughter;  and  Josephine  who  married  Antoine,  Prince  of 
Hohenzollern,  was  the  mother  of  Prince  Leopold,  who  by 
a  strange  fatality,  as  the  instrument  of  Bismarck,  finally 
brought  about  the  downfall  of  Napoleon  III.,  his  mother's 
cousin,  and  the  destruction  of  the  Second  Empire.* 

I  can,  without  indiscretion  or  a  breach  of  confidence,  say 
that  a  marriage  would  have  been  the  consequence  of  the 
deep  attachment  existing  between  these  two  young  people 
had  not  the  ambitious  mother  of  the  Princess  positively 
prohibited  the  match.  I  have  been  assured  of  her  saying 
that  she  doubted  if  Louis  would  ever  be  in  a  position  worthy 
of  her  daughter  Mary.  The  old  duchess  had  always  been 
kind  to  the  Prince ;  she  was  sincerely  fond  of  him,  and  often 
invited  him  to  see  her;  but  it  was  not  her  wish  that  he 
should  marry  her  daughter — his  uncertain  future  being  an 
insuperable  obstacle.  She  was  eager  for  money,  as  the 
family  had  not  much  themselves ;  hence  Mary 's  subsequent 
marriage  with  the  Duke  of  Hamilton,  who  was  not  royal, 
but  rich  and  powerful  in  his  own  country. 

By  way  of  parenthesis,  I  may  mention  here  the  singular 
fact  that,  when  the  Duke  of  Hamilton,  years  afterward,  had 
the  misfortune  to  fall  down  the  entire  flight  of  stairs  at  the 
Maison  Doree  in  Paris,  striking  his  head  on  each  step  as  he 
fell,  and  was  carried  to  the  Hotel  Bristol  in  a  terrible  state, 
it  was  the  Empress  Eugenie  who  visited  him,  sitting  by  his 

*  See  Appendix  I. 


70  THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

side,  doing  all  she  could  for  him,  and  nursing  him  like  a 
sister.  Indeed,  she  took  care  of  him  until  his  death,  for 
the  duchess  only  arrived  at  Paris  some  days  after  the  acci- 
dent. Happily,  she  came  soon  enough  to  see  the  duke  in 
a  lucid  moment,  in  which  he  entreated  her  forgiveness  for 
his  many  shortcomings;  and  it  was  well  that  he  did  so, 
since  there  was  a  great  deal  for  her  to  forgive,  which  she 
willingly  did. 

In  these  painful  circumstances  the  Empress  was  admir- 
able. She  left  everything  at  the  Tuileries  to  attend  to  the 
duke. 

So  then  it  was  the  Princess  Mary,  Duchess  of  Hamilton, 
his  cousin,  who  proposed  the  Princess  of  Vasa  as  the  future 
Empress. 

Prince  Louis  knew  that  I  had  seen  much  of  this  Prin- 
cess ;  for  I  was  often  at  the  Court  at  Carlsruhe,  being  rather 
a  favorite  of  the  Regent,  Frederick  William,  whom  I  knew, 
as  well  as  the  Princess  Louise,  before  their  marriage — the 
latter  especially  as  a  girl  at  the  Anlagen-Schloss  near  Cob- 
lentz,  where  the  then  Prince  of  Prussia  and  his  wife,  the 
Princess  Augusta,  spent  a  considerable  part  of  each  year 
with  their  daughter,  Louise,  and  their  son,  Frederick — 
afterward  the  Grand  Duchess  Louise,  and  the  Emperor, 
Frederick  the  Noble. 

It  is  therefore,  perhaps,  not  remarkable  that  he  should 
have  questioned  me  about  the  Princess,  and  asked  my  opin- 
ion of  her  suitability  as  a  wife  for  him.  He  had  heard 
much ;  but  he  was  not  a  man  to  be  deceived  by  profuse  rec- 
ommendations and  praises,  and  he  wanted  my  opinion  on 
some  points — an  opinion  which  he  knew  he  would  get  from 
me  honestly  and  specifically.  Even  then  the  Prince  showed 
the  honorable  qualities  of  his  finer  nature.  He  did  not 
wish  to  be  deceived  upon  a  most  important  question — what 
were  the  real  feelings  of  the  Princess  herself  on  the  subject 
of  marrying  him1?     He  knew  he  was  much  older  than  she, 


MARRIAGE    OF    THE    EMPEROR  71 

and  had  been  educated  differently,  and  that  perhaps  her 
feeling  was  only  one  of  passive  acquiescence  in  her  aunt's 
and  mother's  scheme.  So  to  me  he  entrusted  the  task  of 
finding  out  the  real  sentiments  of  the  lady  towards  him; 
as  also  something  more  of  her  education,  temperament, 
health,  and  so  forth. 

I  accordingly  went  to  Carlsruhe,  and  there  had  a  long 
conversation  with  the  Princess,  and  more  especially  with 
Madame  E.  Steinberg,  her  principal  lady-in-waiting  and 
"  gouvernante."  I  was  convinced  from  what  was  said  to 
me  that  the  Princess  was  delighted  at  the  thought  of  this 
marriage,  and  I  found  that  she  had  thoroughly  acquainted 
herself  with  the  life  and  character  of  the  man  she  had  de- 
cided to  marry — for  decided  she  was. 

I  was,  therefore,  scarcely  surprised  when,  upon  bidding 
me  good-by,  she  said  with  a  smile,  "  Au  revoir.  A  Paris.11 
She  evidently  considered  the  question  settled.  And,  as  I 
knew  of  no  personal  disqualifications,  I  naturally  thought 
so  also.  On  my  return  to  Paris,  I  reported  to  the  Prince 
all  that  had  occurred. 

He  now  proposed  to  pay  a  visit  to  Baden-Baden  to  see 
the  Princess  and,  in  person,  ask  her  hand  in  marriage.  The 
time  for  the  visit  was  fixed ;  and  a  few  days  later  the  Prince 
left  Paris,  stopping  at  Strasbourg.  From  there  he  went 
to  Baden-Baden  and  met  the  Grand  Duchess  Stephanie  and 
her  daughters,  and  also  the  Princess  Caroline.  The  mar- 
riage was  considered  by  the  Prince  himself  to  be  no  longer 
in  doubt,  although,  at  this  time,  no  formal  offer  had 
been  made  on  either  side.  This  was  to  follow  upon  the 
return  of  the  Prince  to  Paris,  after  certain  questions  in 
regard  to  settlements  and  other  necessary  matters  had  been 
arranged. 

All  was  progressing  favorably,  when  a  great  surprise 
took  place.  Word  came  from  the  Grand  Duchess  Stephanie 
that  she  had  reconsidered  the  matter  of  the  marriage  of  her 
granddaughter,  and  that  the  hand  of  Princess  Caroline  had 


72  THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

been  promised  to  Prince  Albert,  who  was  the  heir  to  the 
throne  of  Saxony. 

What  was  the  cause  of  this  sudden  volte-face?  The 
excuse  given  was  a  previous  engagement  more  or  less  defi- 
nite. The  motive  was  political,  no  doubt.  It  was  certainly 
an  afterthought,  dictated  in  response  to  German  wishes. 
It  is  generally  believed  that  the  opposition  to  the  marriage 
came  from  Austria.  The  father  of  the  Princess  was  not 
opposed  to  it;  but,  having  sought  the  consent  of  the  Aus- 
trian Court  to  which  he  was  attached,  it  is  reported  that 
Francis  Joseph  gave  him  to  understand  that,  remembering 
the  fate  of  two  Austrian  archduchesses,  Marie  Antoinette 
and  Marie  Louise,  he  was  not  disposed  to  approve  of  a 
marriage  with  a  French  prince. 

The  rupture  of  these  matrimonial  negotiations  was  a 
cause  of  humiliation  both  to  the  Prince  and  the  Princess, 
since  matters  had  advanced  so  far.  But  the  Prince  ac- 
cepted the  situation  without  a  word  of  complaint,  and 
seemed  to  feel  that  he,  after  all,  had  been  fortunate,  and 
had  escaped  "  embarrassing  alliances,"  as  he  called  them. 
Believing  implicitly  in  his  destiny,  he  did  not  permit  what 
some  would  term  an  insult  to  disturb  him. 

"  If,"  said  he,  "  the  royal  families  of  Europe  do  not 
want  me  among  them,  it  is  better  for  me.  It  certainly  is 
hardly  consistent  for  us  Napoleons  who  are  of  plebeian 
origin,  to  seek  alliances  with  families  whose  distinctions 
come  to  them  by  Divine  right." 

So  ended  the  dream  of  the  excellent  Princess  Mary, 
Duchess  of  Hamilton,  and  others,  among  whom  was  my 
friend,  Madame  Thayer.  But  I  do  not  think  that  the 
Prince  was  seriously  disappointed.  Princess  Caroline  had 
been,  to  a  certain  extent,  imposed  upon  him.  He  had  prom- 
ised to  marry  some  one,  and,  having  himself  no  one  in  view, 
she  was  the  most  eligible  princess  proposed  to  him.  Time 
also  pressed,  for  he  was  getting  on  in  years — he  was  then 
forty-four  years  old. 


MARRIAGE  OF  THE  EMPEROR     73 

Once,  however,  started  upon  this  marriage  project,  the 
one  of  convenance  having  failed,  it  proved  to  be  a  case  of 
the  premier  pas  qui  coute,  for  he  was  determined  now  to 
marry,  and  this  time  to  choose  his  consort  himself,  without 
any  regard  to  her  being  a  princess  born — as  his  uncle  had 
done  when  he  chose  to  marry  the  beautiful  Vicomtesse  de 
Beauharnais — the  Prince's  own  grandmother,  the  Empress 
Josephine — the  real  Empress,  not  the  Austrian. 

In  the  autumn  of  1851,  I  made  the  acquaintance  of  a 
Spanish  family  consisting  of  three  persons,  a  lady  and  two 
daughters. 

One  of  the  daughters  was  remarkable,  not  only  because 
of  her  great  beauty  but  also  on  account  of  her  vivacity  and 
intelligence;  and  those  who  knew  her  intimately  still  more 
admired  the  kindness  of  her  heart,  and  her  sympathy  with 
all  who  were  suffering  or  needy. 

The  first  proof  which  I  had  of  this  trait  of  her  char- 
acter, was  an  act  of  charity  towards  some  poor  Spanish 
exiles  who  were  living  in  the  United  States.  She  asked 
me  to  send  to  them,  from  time  to  time,  small  amounts  of 
money,  and  presents  of  more  or  less  value,  which,  as  I 
have  since  ascertained,  were  taken  from  her  economies. 
The  manner  in  which  she  transmitted  her  gifts  was  so 
ingenuous  and  considerate,  and  her  whole  behavior  was  so 
free  from  ostentation,  that  I  soon  recognized  Eugenie  de 
Montijo,  Countess  of  Teba — this  was  the  name  of  the 
young  lady  * — to  be  one  of  the  few  persons  who  give 
simply  on  account  of  the  inclination  of  their  heart,  and 
who  do  not  allow  their  left  hand  to  know  what  their  right 
hand  does. 

*The  name  of  the  young  lady  was  Marie  Eugenie  de  Guzman,  her 
father,  the  Count  de  Teba,  having  taken  the  title  of  Count  de  Montijo 
only  on  the  death  of  an  elder  brother.  The  name  entered  in  the  pre- 
amble of  her  marriage  certificate  is  Eugenie  Guzman,  therefore  the 
name  Eugenie  de  Montijo  is  incorrect,  although  it  has  the  sanction  of 
French  usage.     See  Appendix  II. 


74  THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

She  was  living  at  the  time  at  No.  12  Place  Vendome,  not 
far  from  my  office,  and  came  to  see  me  generally  accom- 
panied by  a  friend,  Madame  Zifrey  Casas,  a  lady  of  Ameri- 
can parentage  who  had  married  in  Spain,  or  by  her  faith- 
ful attendant,  Pepa. 

The  many  visits  which  I  received  from  the  young 
Countess,  partly  on  account  of  her  interest  in  her  country- 
men across  the  Atlantic,  and  partly  because  she  wished  to 
obtain  my  professional  advice  and  assistance,  gave  me  a 
good  opportunity  to  form  an  opinion  of  her  character. 

Emotional,  sympathetic,  generous,  quick  to  be  moved  by 
the  impulse  of  the  moment,  thinking  little  of  herself,  she 
always  seemed,  during  these  early  days  of  my  acquaintance 
with  her,  to  be  most  happy  when  she  could  render  a  service 
to  others. 

One  day,  it  happened  that  while  the  young  lady  was 
with  other  professional  visitors  in  my  waiting-room,  there 
was  also  present  a  friend  of  the  Prince-President  of  the 
French  Republic.  This  gentleman  being  much  pressed  for 
time,  the  Countess  of  Teba,  waiving  her  right  of  precedence, 
permitted  to  enter  first  into  my  private  office,  although 
she  had  been  waiting  much  longer  than  he  had;  and  the 
graceful  manner  in  which  this  permission  was  given  evi- 
dently made  an  impression  upon  him;  for  on  entering  my 
room  he  immediately  inquired  who  the  beautiful  young 
lady  was  that  had  granted  him  the  precedence. 

Not  long  after  this  the  Countess  of  Teba  and  her  mother, 
the  Countess  of  Montijo,  were  among  those  who  regularly 
received  invitations  to  the  Elysee  Palace,  where  the  Prince- 
President  then  resided ;  and  there  the  young  Countess  was 
greatly  admired  and  attracted  the  attention  of  everybody. 

She  possessed  a  singularly  striking  face,  oval  in  contour, 
and  remarkable  for  the  purity  of  its  lines ;  a  brilliant,  light, 
clear  complexion ;  blue  eyes,  peculiarly  soft  and  liquid, 
shielded  by  long  lashes  and,  when  in  repose,  cast  slightly 
downward;  hair  of  a  most  beautiful  golden  chestnut  color, 


MADEMOISELLE    EU<4ENIE -C<  >MTLSSE    DE   TEBA. 
From  a  photograph  taken  in  !852. 


MARRIAGE    OF    THE    EMPEROR  75 

a  rather  thin  nose  exquisitely  molded,  and  a  small  deli- 
cate mouth  that  disclosed  when  she  smiled  teeth  that  were 
like  pearls.  Her  figure  was  above  the  average  height  and 
almost  perfect  in  its  proportions — the  waist  round,  and  the 
neck  and  shoulders  admirably  formed — and,  withal,  she 
possessed  great  vivacity  of  expression  and  elegance  in  her 
movements,  together  with  an  indescribable  charm  of  man- 
ner. Indeed,  she  was  a  woman  of  a  very  rare  type  physi- 
cally as  well  as  morally;  one  whose  distinguishing  qualities 
always  seemed  to  me  to  reveal  the  existence  of  Irish  rather 
than  Scotch  blood,  notwithstanding  the  name  of  her  mother's 
family — Kirkpatrick.  But  she  was  richly  endowed,  by  in- 
heritance or  otherwise,  with  the  best  qualities  of  more  than 
one  race ;  and,  if  it  was  true  that  her  beauty  was  blond  and 
delicate  from  her  Scotch  ancestry,  it  was  no  less  true  that 
"  her  grace  was  all  Spanish,  and  her  wit  all  French." 

The  Prince  himself  soon  recognized  the  extraordinary 
personal  and  mental  endowments,  and  the  various  excellent 
and  characteristic  traits  of  the  Countess.  It,  therefore,  is 
not  to  be  wondered  at  that,  when  he  came  to  the  conclusion 
that  marrying  princesses  was  not  his  affair,  he  should  have 
remembered  the  lady  whom  he  had  so  often  admired,  or 
that  he  renewed  the  acquaintance  purposely  and  more  inti- 
mately in  the  autumn  of  1852 ;  and  that  it  led,  with  the 
rapidity  of  romance,  to  an  engagement  of  marriage  which 
he,  having  in  the  meanwhile  become  Emperor,  formally 
announced,  January  22,  1853,  in  the  throne  room  of  the 
Tuileries,  to  the  Senate,  the  Legislative  Assembly,  and  the 
highest  officials  of  his  Government. 

The  words  which  the  Emperor  used  on  this  occasion,  pre- 
sent in  their  true  light  the  motives  that  led  him  to  this 
union,  and  are  a  beautiful  appreciation  of  the  worthiness 
of  his  betrothed,  who  afterward  proved  so  faithful  to  him 
as  a  wife,  not  only  in  the  days  of  splendor  when  Fortune 
smiled  upon  the  Imperial  throne,  but  also  in  the  hours  of 
misfortune  and  exile  that  followed. 


76  THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

"  She  whom  I  have  chosen  by  preference,"  said  the  Em- 
peror, "  is  of  high  birth.  French  at  heart  by  her  educa- 
tion, and  by  the  remembrance  of  the  blood  which  her  father 
shed  for  the  cause  of  the  Empire,  she  has,  as  a  Spaniard, 
the  advantage  of  having  no  relatives  in  France  to  whom 
she  would  be  obliged  to  grant  honors  and  dignities.  En- 
dowed with  every  good  quality  of  the  mind,  she  will  be  an 
ornament  to  the  throne,  and  in  the  hour  of  danger  she  will 
become  one  of  its  most  courageous  supporters.  Catholic 
and  pious,  she  will  send  to  Heaven  the  same  prayers  as  I 
for  the  welfare  of  France ;  gracious  and  good,  she  will,  as 
I  firmly  hope,  revive  the  virtues  of  the  Empress  Josephine, 
whose  place  she  is  about  to  take. 

' '  I  come  here,  then,  gentlemen,  to  say  to  France :  '  I 
have  preferred  to  have  for  a  wife  a  woman  whom  I  love 
and  respect,  rather  than  a  woman  unknown  to  me  and  with 
whom  the  advantages  of  an  alliance  would  have  been  min- 
gled with  sacrifices.  Without  showing  disdain  towards  any 
one,  I  yield  to  my  own  inclinations,  but  after  having  con- 
sulted my  reason  and  my  convictions.  In  short,  having 
placed  independence,  the  qualities  of  the  heart,  and  do- 
mestic happiness  above  dynastic  prejudices  and  the  designs 
of  ambition,  I  shall  not  be  less  strong,  since  I  shall  be 
more  free.'  " 

As  might  have  been  expected,  the  announcement  of 
this  marriage  came  as  a  surprise  to  the  French  people. 
Nor  was  it  at  first  received  with  entire  satisfaction  by 
those  who,  having  rallied  to  the  support  of  the  new  Gov- 
ernment, had  hoped  to  see  it  strengthened  by  an  alliance 
with  the  reigning  families  of  Europe.  This  feeling  of 
disappointment  found  expression  in  various  ways  that 
sometimes  were  not  wanting  in  piquancy. 

One  of  the  persons  who  had  most  urgently  opposed  the 
Emperor's  marriage  with  Mademoiselle  de  Monti  jo  was 
M.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys,  the  Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs.  On 
finding  that  his  counsel  had  been  entirely  disregarded,  he 


MARRIAGE    OF    THE    EMPEROR  77 

concluded  to  send  in  his  resignation  to  the  Emperor,  but, 
before  doing  so,  he  called  upon  Mademoiselle  de  Monti  jo 
to  pay  her  his  respects  officially.  He  had  scarcely  spoken 
when  she  said: 

:  You  will  permit  me  to  thank  you,  and  very  sincerely, 
for  the  advice  you  have  given  to  the  Emperor  with  respect 
to  his  marriage.  Your  advice  to  him  was  exactly  the  same 
as  mine." 

"  The  Emperor  has  betrayed  me — I  see,"  said  the 
Minister. 

1 '  No :  the  honorable  recognition  of  your  sincerity — 
the  making  me  acquainted  with  the  opinion  of  a  devoted 
servant  who  has  given  utterance  to  my  own  sentiments — 
this  is  no  betrayal.  I  told  the  Emperor,  as  you  did,  that 
the  interests  of  his  throne  should  be  taken  into  considera- 
tion; but  it  is  not  for  me  to  be  his  judge,  whether  he  is 
right  or  wrong  in  believing  that  his  interests  can  be  recon- 
ciled with  his  sentiments." 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  add  that  M.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys 
promptly  reversed  his  opinion  concerning  Mademoiselle  de 
Montijo,  and  retained  his  portfolio. 

A  story  also  is  told  of  a  distinguished  Senator,  who, 
having  been  asked  what  he  thought  of  the  Emperor's 
declaration  of  his  matrimonial  intentions  addressed  to  the 
representatives  of  the  Government  and  the  people,  replied : 
'  A  fine  speech — excellent ;  but  I  prefer  the  sauce  to 
the  fish." 

It  seems  this  remark  was  reported  at  the  palace,  greatly 
to  the  amusement  of  the  parties  principally  concerned. 
Now  it  so  happened  that,  at  a  dinner  given  at  the  Tuileries 
a  few  weeks  later,  this  Senator  was  seated  next  to  the 
Empress,  who,  observing  that  after  having  been  helped 
to  the  turbot,  he  declined  the  sauce,  said  to  him,  smiling 
roguishly : 

"  Monsieur,  I  thought  it  was  the  sauce  you  liked  and 
not  the  fish." 
7 


78  THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

With  rare  presence  of  mind  the  gentleman  replied 
after  a  moment  of  hesitancy:  "  A  mistake,  madame,  for 
which  I  am  now  trying  to  make  amends." 

And  so  nearly  all  those  persons  who  at  first  were 
inclined  to  manifest  their  disappointment  or  surprise,  dis- 
covered they  had  made  a  mistake,  the  moment  they  enjoyed 
the  privilege  of  meeting  her  Majesty,  and  were  themselves 
fascinated  by  her  beauty  and  wit,  or  felt  the  influence  of 
the  subtle  charm  that  seemed  to  come  from  the  very  soul 
of  the  woman,  and,  like  an  ever-present  atmosphere,  invest 
her  sweet  and  sympathetic  personality.  They  were  now 
ready  to  confess  that  the  Emperor  was  right  when  he  said 
to  the  great  dignitaries  of  the  Empire :  ' '  You,  gentlemen, 
when  you  come  to  know  her,  will  be  convinced  that  I  have 
been  inspired  by  Providence." 

The  marriage  of  the  Emperor  had  the  sanction  of 
public  opinion  and  there  was  a  touch  of  romance  about 
it  that  made  it  pleasing  to  the  people.  While  Lamartine, 
the  shifty  Republican,  could  hardly  look  with  favor  on  the 
Imperial  pair,  Lamartine,  the  poet,  gracefully  acknowl- 
edged that  the  Emperor  had  by  this  marriage  made  real 
the  most  beautiful  dream  a  man  can  have — that  he  had 
raised  up  the  woman  he  loved  and  had  set  her  above  all 
other  women. 

On  the  30th  of  January,  1853,  I  saw  the  marriage  be- 
tween Napoleon  III.  and  Mademoiselle  Eugenie  de  Montijo 
celebrated  in  the  old  cathedral  of  Notre  Dame  with  all  the 
splendor  and  magnificence  to  which  the  monarch  of  a  great 
nation  and  the  consort  of  his  choice  were  entitled.  The 
ceremonial  observed  on  this  occasion  was  quite  like  that 
employed  at  the  marriage  of  Napoleon  and  Josephine,  but 
was  even  more  elaborate  and  spectacular  in  its  details. 
The  gilded  State  carriage  surmounted  by  the  Imperial 
eagle  and  drawn  by  eight  horses,  in  which  the  Emperor, 
in  the  uniform  of  a  general  of  division,  was  seated  by 
the  side  of  his  bride,  was  the  one  used  by  Napoleon  and 


MARRIAGE    OF    THE    EMPEROR  79 

Josephine  on  the  day  of  their  coronation.  The  approaches 
to  the  Tuileries,  the  courts  of  the  Louvre,  and  the  streets 
leading  to  the  cathedral  were  filled  with  an  immense  crowd 
of  people  whose  enthusiasm  was  unbounded.  It  would  be 
impossible  to  describe  the  profound  impression  produced 
when,  after  the  passing  of  the  main  body  of  the  cortege, 
the  Imperial  carriage  was  seen  advancing,  surrounded 
by  the  great  officers  of  the  army,  and  preceded  and  fol- 
lowed by  squadrons  of  cavalry,  and  we  heard  the  hum  of 
voices — the  half-suppressed  exclamations  of  admiration — 
then  a  silence,  followed  by  long-continued  vivas — "  vive 
I'Empereur  " — "  vive  Eugenie  " — "  vive  la  France/' 
Those  who  were  fortunate  enough,  as  I  was,  to  catch, 
through  the  windows  of  the  coach  of  glass  and  gold,  a 
glimpse  of  the  divinely  beautiful  bride  who  sat  beside  the 
Emperor  like  a  captive  fairy  queen,  her  hair  trimmed  with 
orange  blossoms,  a  diadem  on  her  head,  her  corsage  bril- 
liant with  gems,  wearing  a  necklace  of  pearls,  and  envel- 
oped in  a  cloud  of  lace — can  never  forget  this  radiant  and 
yet  shrinking  figure.  Radiant,  she  seemed  to  feel  that 
Fortune  had  conferred  upon  her  its  supremest  gift,  and 
that  she  was  about  to  realize  the  prediction  once  whispered 
in  her  ear  by  a  Spanish  gypsy  woman,  "  the  day  will  come 
when  you  shall  be  a  Queen  ";  and  yet  shrinking,  as  if  she 
feared  that  behind  all  this  show  of  enthusiasm  and  splen- 
dor there  was  another  world — a  world  of  violence  and  of 
sorrow;  that  the  things  which  were  seen  were  an  illusion 
and  vanity,  and  that  the  things  which  were  not  seen  were 
the  eternal  reality.  Perhaps  she  was  thinking  of  the  young 
Austrian  Princess  whose  marriage  was  also  celebrated  with 
the  greatest  pomp ;  and  of  the  day  that  followed — the  16th 
of  October,  1793 — when  the  shouting  of  the  people  was 
heard  by  her  for  the  last  time;  for  Eugenie  de  Montijo 
even  then  had  learned  by  heart  this  touching  story  of 
royal  happiness  and  despair. 

In  the  cathedral,  where  the   marriage  ceremony  took 


80  THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

place,  the  columns  and  lofty  vaults  had  been  decorated 
with  rich  draperies,  and  banners,  and  banderoles;  and 
palms,  and  garlands  of  white  blossoms,  and  banks  of  flow- 
ers had  been  scattered  everywhere — innumerable  candles 
lighting  up  the  whole  of  the  vast  interior,  filled  to  its  ut- 
most capacity  by  the  great  bodies  of  the  State,  the  diplo- 
matic corps  and  the  representatives  of  the  Army,  the  Church 
and  the  cities  of  France,  and  by  the  elegance  and  beauty 
of  the  world  of  fashion.  The  scene  was  one  of  unparalleled 
magnificence.  Nothing  was  wanting  to  invest  the  occasion 
with  splendor  and  solemnity.  On  entering  this  ancient 
church  and  going  forward  to  the  altar,  while  a  wedding 
march  was  played  by  an  orchestra  of  five  hundred  musi- 
cians, the  bride  was  quite  overcome  by  her  emotions.  But 
when  the  archbishop  said  to  her :  ' '  Madame — you  declare, 
recognize,  and  swear  before  God,  and  before  the  Holy 
Church,  that  you  take  now  for  your  husband  and  legal 
spouse  the  Emperor  Napoleon  III.,  here  present,"  she 
responded,  in  a  clear,  sweet  voice,  "  Oui,  Monsieur." 

If  the  elegance  of  her  person  evoked  admiration  on 
every  side,  the  modest  dignity  with  which  she  performed 
her  part  in  this  great  and  imposing  ceremony  secured 
to  her  the  sympathy  and  good-will  of  all  who  witnessed  it. 

After  the  ceremony  was  over  the  procession  returned 
to  the  Tuileries  in  the  same  order  in  which  it  had  left 
the  palace,  and  the  Emperor  and  the  Empress,  ascend- 
ing the  steps  of  the  ' '  Salle  des  Marechaux, ' '  came  forward 
on  the  balcony,  and  saluted  the  assembled  multitude,  who 
returned  with  loud  and  repeated  vivas  this  gracious  rec- 
ognition on  the  part  of  their  sovereigns. 

Napoleon,  on  the  morning  of  his  marriage,  going  into 
the  dressing-room  of  Marie  Louise,  said  as  he  placed  with 
his  own  hands  a  crown  upon  her  head:  "  The  Empress 
will  wear  this  crown.  It  is  not  beautiful,  but  it  is  unique, 
and  I  wish  to  attach  it  to  my  dynasty."  On  the  30th  of 
January,  1853,  Eugenie  de  Montijo  entered  the  Tuileries 


MARRIAGE    OF    THE    EMPEROR  81 

— the  Palace  of  Catherine  de  Medicis,  of  Marguerite  de 
Navarre,  of  Marie  Antoinette,  of  Josephine,  of  Marie 
Louise — in  triumph,  wearing  upon  her  head  the  same  Im- 
perial crown.  And  she  was  worthy  of  this  honor;  for 
from  that  day  the  Empress  Eugenie  ranked  without  ques- 
tion among  the  most  admired  and  beloved  sovereigns  of 
the  nineteenth  century;  and,  as  if  she  were  destined  to 
have  over  her  predecessors  a  certain  melancholy  pre- 
eminence, her  name  is  the  last  of  the  names  of  women,  the 
wonderful  story  of  whose  lives  has  made  the  Palace  of 
the  Tuileries  forever  memorable  in  French  history. 

A  few  days  after  Eugenie  de  Montijo — or,  as  I  had 
always  been  accustomed  to  call  her,  the  Countess  of  Teba — 
had  been  installed  as  Empress  at  the  Tuileries,  she  sent 
word  to  me  by  Mademoiselle  Pepa,  her  confidential  maid — 
who  afterward,  by  marriage  with  a  subaltern  officer,  be- 
came Madame  Pollet — that,  having  need  of  my  profes- 
sional services,  she  wished  me  to  come  and  see  her  at  the 
Tuileries. 

Pepa  informed  me  that  her  Majesty  desired  to  see  me 
personally.  The  Empress,  as  the  Countess  of  Teba,  had 
always  been  accustomed  to  come  to  my  office  and  to  take 
her  turn  with  the  others,  and  it  was  an  innovation  to 
ask  me  to  go  to  her;  so  she  was  careful,  in  making  this 
request,  to  have  it  appear  that  she  considered  she  was 
asking  a  favor,  or  at  least  was  paying  me  a  special 
compliment. 

On  entering  her  room,  she  received  me  most  cordially 
and  unaffectedly.  We  conversed  about  the  great  change 
in  her  position,  and  how  it  had  come  to  pass;  and  she  told 
me  many  things  that  had  taken  place  during  the  interval 
since  I  had  seen  her. 

I  remember,  when  Pepa  came  into  the  room  to  speak 
with  the  Empress,  how  they  both  laughed  as  the  poor, 
simple  woman  who  had  known  the  lady  from  childhood 


82  THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

and  had  naturally  been  most  familiar  with  her  as  a  young 
girl,  tried  to  say,  "  your  Majesty."  She  could  not  get  it 
out.  She  spoke  French  with  a  strong  Spanish  accent,  and 
kept  laughing  as  she  tried  to  call  her  by  her  new  title. 
It  was  most  amusing,  and  the  Empress  saw  it  in  a  hu- 
morous light  and  enjoyed  it  greatly.  But  with  time,  Pepa 
and  all  of  us  fell  into  the  way  of  giving  to  the  Empress 
her  title  "  your  Majesty." 

As  my  illustrious  and  most  interesting  patient,  although 
at  the  moment  quite  comfortable,  had  been  suffering  greatly 
and  feared  a  repetition  of  the  same  trouble,  and  as  she 
had  important  duties  to  attend  to,  and  a  reception  in  the 
evening,  I  remained  at  the  Tuileries  several  hours  in  order 
to  be  sure  that  she  should,  if  possible,  be  able  to  appear 
at  the  function,  for  which  elaborate  preparations  had  been 
made.     We  had,  therefore,  much  time  for  conversation. 

While  speaking  of  the  Tuileries,  the  part  which  we  were 
in  being  one  that  I  had  never  before  visited,  the  Empress 
called  my  attention  to  certain  articles  of  furniture  and 
precious  objects,  some  of  which  had  belonged  to  Marie  An- 
toinette. She  spoke  of  the  Queen's  sad  fate,  and  of  the 
souvenirs  connected  with  the  room  we  were  sitting  in,  and 
about  the  historical  associations  of  the  old  palace.  Much 
of  this  conversation  was  to  me  particularly  interesting. 
There  was  in  it  a  vein  of  sadness  or  melancholy  mingled 
with  scarcely  concealed  surprise  at  her  own  position  as 
sovereign  mistress  where  so  many  great  ladies  had  lived 
— to-day  the  favorites  of  fortune,  to-morrow  the  unhappy 
victims  of  popular  fury,  some  sent  into  exile  and  some 
to  the  scaffold.  There  was,  however,  no  indication  what- 
soever in  her  deportment  of  any  feeling  of  vanity,  or  of 
pride  at  being  elevated  to  the  throne,  and  becoming  the 
first  lady  in  the  land.  In  all  this  there  was  a  charm,  a 
simplicity  of  soul  which  I  saw  again  in  troublous  times, 
in  the  terrible  days  of  1870,  when  hastening  with  her  from 
that  France  where,  for  upwards  of  seventeen  years,  her 


MARRIAGE    OF    THE    EMPEROR  83 

goodness,  and  her  beauty,  and  distinction  had  held  the 
world  at  her  feet. 

A  little  incident  took  place  on  this  day  which  revealed 
to  me  the  strong  and  romantic  attachment  of  the  Emperor 
to  his  lovely  wife.  It  was  the  first  day  since  her  marriage 
on  which  she  had  suffered  acute  pain,  and  the  Emperor 
expressed  the  greatest  sympathy  for  her,  and  was  most  at- 
tentive— coming  up-stairs  from  his  cabinet  several  times 
to  inquire  how  she  was  feeling.  Just  before  I  left  the 
palace,  very  happy  to  know  that  my  charming  patient  was 
no  longer  suffering,  the  Emperor  entered  the  room  again, 
with  a  box  in  his  hand,  and,  approaching  the  Empress, 
took  from  it  a  magnificent  string  of  pearls,  which  he 
placed  around  her  neck. 

Some  time  before,  M.  Charles  Thelin  had  told  me  that 
the  Emperor  possessed  a  remarkable  collection  of  pearls, 
which  he  had  selected  one  by  one,  intending  to  make  with 
them  a  necklace  for  the  Empress.  Touched  by  a  feeling 
of  love  and  compassion,  his  Majesty  had  been  unable  to 
keep  his  secret  from  her  any  longer. 

Eugenie  de  Montijo  was  not  so  dazzled  by  the  splendor 
of  her  new  position  as  to  forget  the  companions  of  her 
earlier  and  more  simple  life.  She  invited  them  to  come 
to  see  her.  Some  of  them  became  her  "  dames  du  Palais." 
She  wished  all  of  them  to  speak  to  her  familiarly,  as  they 
used  to  do.  Her  friendly  advances  towards  them  were  not 
to  relieve  ennui,  or  to  fill  up  a  void  created  in  her  life  by 
the  formalities  of  the  palace.  She  now  had  the  power 
to  help  them  and  to  honor  them — and  this  she  loved  to  do. 
I  may  remark  here  that  this  kind  consideration — this  fond- 
ness for  her  friends — was  a  sentiment  that  had  its  origin 
in  an  affection  which  once  having  been  felt  was  sincere 
and  constant,  and  endured  through  good  report  and  evil 
report  to  the  end. 

I  have  never  known  a  woman  that  had  such  reason  to 


84  THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

distrust  the  sincerity  of  some  of  the  persons  in  her  imme- 
diate entourage,  who  was  so  full  of  faith  in  the  good  in- 
tentions, and  so  abounding  in  charity  towards  the  short- 
comings, of  all  who  claimed  to  be  her  friends.  If  she 
could  not  say  something  in  praise  of  them  she  preferred 
to  remain  silent,  unless  their  conduct  was  made  a  subject 
of  criticism  by  others,  when  she  was  pretty  sure  to  come 
to  their  defense,  and  sometimes  with  a  warmth  of  feeling 
that  was  surprising. 

Perhaps  the  explanation  of  this  trait  of  character  is 
to  be  found  in  her  inability  to  forget  a  kindness. 

When  reproached  one  day  for  keeping  up  her  inter- 
course with  certain  ladies — the  Delessarts — who  were  well 
known  for  their  Orleanist  sympathies,  her  reply  was: 
'  They  were  very  kind  to  me  before  my  marriage,  and 
I  never  forget  my  old  friends."  Indeed,  I  do  not  believe 
there  is  a  single  person  now  living  that  has  ever  rendered 
her  Majesty  a  notable  service  who  has  not  heard  her  say 
— and  more  than  once — "  I  never  can  forget  what  you  have 
done  for  me." 

The  attachment  of  the  Empress  to  her  old  friends  and 
the  associates  of  her  earlier  days,  is  strikingly  illustrated 
by  her  relations  with,  and  the  consideration  which  she 
always  had  for,  her  principal  lady's  maid,  Madame  Pollet. 
"  Pepa,"  as  she  was  familiarly  called,  was  the  daughter 
of  a  Carlist  general ;  but  when  very  young  she  entered 
into  the  personal  service  of  the  Countess  of  Teba.  Her 
devotion  to  her  mistress  was  unbounded,  and  she  soon  ob- 
tained, as  she  deserved,  her  esteem  and  confidence  in  equal 
measure.  With  her  Majesty,  Pepa  went  to  the  Tuileries, 
where  she  was  entrusted  with  the  general  direction  over 
a  multitude  of  things  connected  with  the  domesticity  of 
the  palace,  and  became,  in  a  way,  a  personage — at  least 
to  a  certain  circle.  She  was  a  little  woman,  not  in  good 
health,  fretful,  irritable,  and  timid.  Her  person,  her 
manner,  her  accent,  her  devotion  to  her  mistress,  the  fact 


MARRIAGE    OF    THE    EMPEROR  85 

that  she  was  the  direct  intermediary  between  her  Majesty 
and  the  tradesmen,  and  the  very  confidence  reposed  in 
her,  in  all  her  doings  and  dealings,  exposed  her  constantly 
to  ridicule  and  reproach.  It  is,  therefore,  not  surprising 
that  great  injustice  should  have  been  done  this  faithful 
attendant  and  confidant  of  her  Majesty  by  the  personnel 
of  the  palace  and  the  chroniclers  of  the  doings  of  the 
Imperial  Court.  But  the  Empress  knew  her  sterling 
qualities,  her  sincerity,  and  her  integrity,  and  appreciated 
her  accordingly.  In  fact,  she  never  failed  to  defend  with 
warmth  her  "  poor  Pepa  '  against  every  attack,  from 
whatever  quarter  it  might  come. 

"  Yes,"  said  the  Empress  to  me  one  day,  "  Pepa  is 
timid;  she  starts  at  the  rustling  of  a  curtain,  and  turns 
pale  at  the  moaning  of  the  wind,  and  screams  at  the  sight 
of  a  mouse,  and  is  in  a  constant  state  of  terror  lest  we 
should  all  be  assassinated;  but  let  her  see  or  think  that 
I  am  in  any  real  danger — ah !  then  she  is  no  longer  afraid, 
but  has  the  courage  of  a  little  lioness."  Pepa  is  long 
since  dead ;  but  she  never  in  life  was  more  devoted  to  her 
mistress  than  the  Empress  is  still  devoted  to  the  memory 
of  her  very  humble,  but  most  sincere,  friend  and  servant. 

Notwithstanding  the  great  change  in  her  rank,  the 
Empress  remained  unchanged  in  her  character;  and  un- 
changed also  was  the  unaffected  courtesy  with  which  she 
received  all  who  came  into  her  presence.  Nor  did  her 
kindness  and  love  for  everything  that  was  true  and  noble 
grow  less.  I  have  seen  her  frequently  during  many  years ; 
I  have  seen  her  surrounded  by  luxury  and  the  pageantries 
of  the  most  brilliant  Court  in  Europe ;  I  have  witnessed 
her  greatest  triumphs,  but  I  cannot  recall  one  moment  in 
which  her  demeanor  towards  others,  no  matter  how  humble 
their  station  in  life,  was  different  from  that  by  which  she 
attracted  the  sympathy  of  all  those  who  knew  her  as  a 
young  lady.  She  always  had  the  excellent  good  sense 
never  to   impose   herself   as    Empress   upon   the   persons 


86  THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

whom  she  had  known  before  her  elevation  to  the  throne; 
and  yet  she  never  forgot  that  she  was  no  longer  of  that 
world  to  which  she  had  once  belonged.  In  a  word,  she 
possessed  an  instinctive  appreciation  of  the  requirements 
of  her  position,  and  so  happily  harmonized  and  combined 
her  natural  impulse  to  be  herself  with  a  sense  of  the  re- 
serve and  dignity  becoming  her  exalted  rank,  that  she  won 
the  praises  of  all.  Queen  Christine  pronounced  her  de- 
portment admirable,  and  declared  that  she  carried  herself 
"  neither  too  high  nor  too  low."  And  the  Queen  of  Eng- 
land was  of  the  same  opinion.  At  the  time  of  the  visit 
of  their  Imperial  Majesties  to  London,  in  1855,  the  Queen 
writes  in  her  diary  of  the  Empress  as  follows:  "  She  is 
full  of  courage  and  spirit,  and  yet  so  gentle,  with  such 
innocence  and  enjouement,  that  the  ensemble  is  most 
charming.  With  all  her  great  liveliness,  she  has  the 
prettiest  and  most  modest  manner."  And  a  day  or  two 
later,  the  Queen  writes,  "  Her  manner  is  the  most  perfect 
thing  I  have  ever  seen — so  gentle,  and  graceful,  and  kind; 
and  the  courtesy  so  charming,  and  so  modest  and  retiring 
withal."* 

And  yet  while  she  was  so  condescending  and  so 
courteous  to  all,  and  so  easy  of  approach,  who  that  ever 
saw  the  Empress  on  great  ceremonial  occasions  will  for- 
get the  dignity  as  well  as  grace  with  which  she  responded 
to  the  salutations  she  received,  or  the  grand  manner  of 
her  carriage?  The  appearance  of  her  Majesty  on  some 
of  these  occasions  has  doubtless  suggested  to  the  mind  of 
more  than  one  person  the  words  used  by  Saint  Simon 
when  speaking  of  the  Duchess  of  Burgundy :"  Sa  demarche 
etait  celle  d'une  deesse  sur  les  nuees." 

But  it  was  the  amiable  and  gentle  manner  of  the 
Empress,  the  absence  of  every  sign  of  superciliousness  or 
of  undue  pride  after  her  elevation  to  the  throne,   even 

*  Life  of  the  Prince  Consort,  by  Theodore  Martin,  vol.  iii. 


MARRIAGE  OF  THE  EMPEROR     87 

more  than  her  extraordinary  beauty  and  esprit,  that  dis- 
armed opposition,  and  won  for  her  the  admiration  even 
of  those  who,  jealous  of  her  rare  fortune,  were  at  first 
most  disposed  to  criticize  her.  And  such  criticism  as  she 
was  subjected  to!  How  insignificant  in  reality  it  always 
was !  Never  a  word  that  cast  a  reflection  on  her  good- 
ness, her  loyalty,  or  fidelity  as  a  wife  and  mother!  The 
foundation  on  which  her  character  as  Empress  and  woman 
rested  was  unassailable.  But  the  anti-Imperialist  gossips 
never  grew  weary  of  tattling  about  her  love  of  personal 
display,  of  inventorying  her  dresses,  and  bonnets,  and  jew- 
els, and  furs,  and  of  hypocritically  bemoaning  the  "  luxe 
offrene  " — the  unbridled  luxury — of  the  Court.  Just  as  if 
it  was  not  one  of  the  principal  functions  of  a  sovereign 
in  a  country  like  France — the  arbitre  de  la  mode  for  the 
world — to  set  the  fashions  of  the  day,  and  to  regulate  the 
etiquette  and  ceremonials  of  the  Court ! 

And  most  eminently  was  she  qualified  to  prescribe  and 
govern  the  "  form  "  at  a  Court  brilliant  and  fond  of 
display  and  originality  to  the  verge  of  eccentricity.  It 
was  with  the  most  exquisite  tact  and  taste  that  she  fixed 
the  line  where  fashion  stopped,  and  to  pass  beyond  which 
would  have  been  ridiculous.  The  beau  monde  everywhere 
accepted  her  decisions  in  these  matters  as  ne  plus  ultra. 
From  the  day  she  entered  the  Tuileries,  the  Empress  was 
the  ruler  of  the  world  of  fashion,  and  the  supreme  author- 
ity with  her  sex,  in  the  four  quarters  of  the  globe,  in  all 
matters  pertaining  to  the  graces  and  elegancies  of  social 
life;  and  through  her  patronage  the  names  of  the  coutu- 
rieres,  and  modistes,  and  florists  of  Paris  became  famous 
in  every  land. 

And  yet  most  ladies  who  are  at  all  prominent  in  our 
fin  de  siecle  society,  would  probably  be  greatly  surprised 
were  I  to  tell  them  that  the  Empress,  when  one  day  at 
Farnborough  reference  was  made  to  these  particular 
critics  and  the  alleged  extravagance  of  her  wardrobe,  said 


88  THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

in  my  presence:  "  How  very  ridiculous  all  this  is.  Well! 
I  suppose  they  think  they  must  say  something.  Why !  with 
the  exception  of  a  few  gowns  made  for  special  ceremonial 
occasions,  (those  which  she  used  very  happily  to  call  '  mes 
robes  politiques  ')  during  the  whole  time  I  was  at  the 
Tuileries  I  never  wore  a  dress  that  cost  more  than  fifteen 
hundred  francs,  and  most  of  my  dresses  were  much  less 
expensive. ' ' 

A  writer  who  is  no  friend  of  the  Empress  has  the 
grace  to  say,  when  speaking  of  her:  "  We  live  at  a  time 
when  queens  are  exposed  to  public  observation  more  than 
ever  before,  when  they  cannot  put  on  a  dress  without  hav- 
ing it  described  by  fifty  newspapers,  when  twenty  articles 
are  published  every  day  about  their  fetes,  their  amuse- 
ments, their  jewels,  and  their  head-dresses.  This  publicity 
tends  to  lower  queens  in  the  estimation  of  the  people,  who 
no  longer  see  anything  but  the  frivolous  side  of  their 
lives. 

"  To  support  without  concern,  as  also  without  haughti- 
ness, the  gaze  of  so  many  people  who  are  constantly  ex- 
amining you;  to  take,  without  having  the  appearance  of 
it,  one's  part  of  the  responsibility  of  governing,  and  the 
most  dangerous,  perhaps;  to  appear  at  the  same  time  seri- 
ous and  frivolous,  a  woman  of  the  world  and  of  the  home, 
and  religious  without  being  a  devotee;  to  dress  without 
affectation;  to  discuss  literature  without  pedantry,  and 
politics  without  embarrassment;  to  read  what  a  well- 
instructed  woman  should  read;  to  say  what  a  clever 
woman  is  expected  to  say ;  to  know  how  to  speak  to  women 
and  to  men,  to  the  young  and  to  the  old;  to  be  in  a  word 
always  on  the  stage — this  is  the  role  of  a  queen." 

And  certainly  very  few  persons  will  be  disposed  to 
deny  the  truth  and  justice  of  this  writer's  conclusion  that 
"  Queen  or  Empress  is  a  difficult  trade  in  a  country  like 
France,  and  in  a  time  like  that  in  which  we  live !  ' 

*  Taxil  Delord,  "  Histoire  du  Second  Empire,"  tome  i,  p.  518. 


MARRIAGE    OF    THE    EMPEROR  89 

Soon  after  the  fall  of  the  Empire,  stories  were  put  in 
circulation  to  the  effect  that  the  Imperial  family  had 
accumulated  a  large  fortune,  which  they  had  been  very 
careful  to  remove  from  France.  It  was  alleged  that  al- 
ways uncertain  as  to  the  stability  of  a  Government  of 
adventure,  they  had  with  great  discretion  been  "  making 
hay  while  the  sun  shone,"  and  had  invested  considerable 
sums  in  English  consols,  and,  wonderful  to  relate,  in 
New  York  real  estate.  The  honor  even  was  attributed  to 
me  of  having  advised  the  American  investments,  and  also 
of  having  acted  as  the  agent  in  these  transactions.  Not 
only  were  all  these  stories  untrue,  but,  for  those  making 
me  a  party  to  the  financial  affairs  of  the  Imperial  family, 
there  was  never  the  slightest  foundation.* 

The  Emperor's  generosity,  his  prodigality  even,  was 
notorious.  The  direct  appeals  to  him  for  pecuniary  as- 
sistance were  constant,  and  he  gave  away  immense  sums 
to  charities  of  every  kind.     The  Empress  was  the  Lady 

*  Among  the  papers  and  correspondence  of  the  Imperial  family, 
found  at  the  Tuileries,  and  published  in  1870  by  the  Government  of  the 
National  Defense,  is  a  scrap  containing  a  miscellaneous  list  of  property 
amounting  to  nearly  a  million  pounds  sterling.  It  is  without  a  heading 
or  any  indication  of  its  origin  or  character.  It  is  called,  however,  "a 
very  precious  document,"  and  is  assumed  to  be  an  inventory  of  the 
personal  property  of  the  Emperor,  deposited  at  the  Barings  in  1866. 
It  is  still  used  to  give  credit  to  the  stories  referred  to  above.  Among 
the  items  in  the  list  is  this  one,  namely,  "Uniforms,  £16,000."  Why 
Napoleon  III.  should  have  had,  in  1866,  sixteen  thousand  pounds 
worth  of  uniforms  stowed  away  in  the  bank  of  the  Barings,  in  Lon- 
don, seems  to  have  greatly  puzzled  the  editors  of  the  papers  and 
correspondence  referred  to.  Their  conjectures  are  highly  amusing. 
"  Les  fragments  incomplets  ramasses  dans  de  vieux  papiers,"  which 
formed  a  very  large  part  of  this  correspondence  have  been  officially 
discredited.  (See  "Enquete  Parlementaire,"  1872,  p.  14.)  In  fact,  as 
it  was  soon  discovered  that  the  Government  could  derive  no  political 
benefit  from  the  publication  of  these  papers,  only  one  volume  was 
published  officially;  and  the  papers,  after  having  passed  through  the 
hands  of  the  Republican  authorities — excepting  a  few  that  went  astray 
— were  returned  to  the  heirs  of  Napoleon  III.     See  Appendix  III. 


■J 


90  THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

Bountiful  of  the  reign;  but  the  Emperor  delighted  to  aid 
her  in  her  benevolent  work  and  to  make  her  the  agent 
and  dispenser  of  his  own  liberalities.  The  demands  upon 
the  privy  purse  were  endless.  Often  it  was  drawn  upon 
to  supplement  the  lack  of  public  funds.  The  account  of 
the  Imperial  civil  list,  which  has  been  published,  shows 
that  during  his  reign  the  Emperor  distributed  person- 
ally over  ninety  millions  of  francs  in  public  and  private 
benefactions.  The  last  large  sum  of  money  he  had  in  his 
possession,  1,000,000  francs,  he  ordered  to  be  distributed 
among  the  troops  that  capitulated  at  Sedan — reserving 
absolutely  nothing  for  his  personal  use.  During  his  reign, 
he  made  no  monetary  provision  for  the  future.  When 
he  left  France,  in  September,  1870,  his  personal  fortune 
was  no  greater  than  it  was  when  he  came  to  France 
twenty-two  years  before.  He  owned  the  chateau  at  Aren- 
enberg  which  brought  him  no  income,  and  a  little  prop- 
erty in  Italy,  from  which  he  derived  a  small  revenue — all 
of  which  he  had  inherited.  Had  it  not  been  for  the  pri- 
vate fortune  of  the  Empress,  the  family  would  have  then 
been  at  once  reduced  to  very  straitened  circumstances. 

The  Empress  was  the  owner  of  some  property  in  Spain, 
the  Villa  Eugenia  at  Biarritz,  besides  other  real  estate  in 
France;  some  of  which  she  subsequently  generously  gave 
to  the  French  people.  But  a  large  part  of  the  Empress' 
fortune  consisted  of  jewels,  most  of  which  had  been  pre- 
sented to  her  at  the  time  of  her  marriage,  and  some  of 
which  were  of  very  great  value — among  them  a  magnifi- 
cent collection  of  pearls,  and  several  large  diamonds  of 
extraordinary  purity  and  brilliancy  that  originally  be- 
longed to  Marie  Antoinette  and  formed  a  part  of  the 
famous  "  diamond  necklace,"  the  tragic  story  of  which 
has  been  so  powerfully  told  by  Carlyle.  These  jewels  were 
sold  after  their  Majesties  were  settled  in  England,  as  was 
also  the  property  at  Biarritz,  and  the  proceeds  were  in- 
vested in  income-yielding  securities.     But,  altogether,  the 


MARRIAGE  OF  THE  EMPEROR     91 

fortune  of  the  Imperial  family  was  not  large,  particularly 
in  view  of  the  claims  of  needy  dependents  and  obligations 
of  various  kinds,  which  could  neither  be  repudiated  nor 
ignored. 

I  may  remark  that  very  few  of  the  persons  prominently 
connected  with  the  Second  Empire  appear  to  have  ac- 
cumulated wealth;  and  that  having  lost  their  official  posi- 
tions after  the  fall  of  the  Imperial  Government,  great 
numbers  of  those  who  were  advanced  in  life,  were  reduced 
to  extreme  indigence.  When  the  attention  of  a  French 
Republican  is  called  to  this  fact — that  money-making  was 
not  the  business  of  the  servants  of  the  Empire — he  shrugs 
his  shoulders  and  cynically  says :  "  I  suppose  they  thought 
it  was  going  to  last  forever." 

It  is  not  difficult  to  understand  how  impossible  it  was 
to  satisfy  all  those  servitors  who  felt  that  they  had  a  right 
to  appeal  to  their  late  sovereigns  for  pecuniary  assistance ; 
or  to  prevent  in  some  cases  the  disagreeable  consequences 
of  a  failure  to  respond  to  such  appeals. 

But  there  was  another  class  of  solicitors  far  more 
difficult  to  deal  with,  men  and  women  who  were  anxious 
to  espouse  the  Imperialist  cause — for  money.  It  was  im- 
possible to  listen  to  these  people,  and  their  assistance  was 
politely  declined.  But  they  went  away  carrying  with 
them  a  bitter  feeling  of  disappointment  that  subsequently 
found  expression  in  petulant  and  vicious  attacks,  directed 
more  particularly  against  the  Empress,  whose  good  sense 
in  refusing  to  be  exploited  was  attributed  to  parsimony 
and  niggardliness.  There  were  times  when  these  personal 
attacks  were  absolutely  heartless;  when  even  the  mourn- 
ing of  a  mother  was  made  the  pretext  for  the  most  cruel 
insinuations.  These  savage  thrusts  were  keenly  felt,  but 
the  wisdom  and  real  greatness  of  character  which  the 
Empress  possesses  were  never  more  conspicuously  shown 
than  in  her  ability  to  listen  to  these  slanders  in  silence — 
and  if  in  sorrow,  in  pity  also. 


92  THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

Although  misfortune  finally  dethroned  the  Empress 
Eugenie  it  was  certainly  not  because  she  had  proved 
unworthy  of  her  high  position.  She,  as  well  as  her  mag- 
nanimous husband,  had  to  suffer  on  account  of  being  too 
trustful  and  generous  to  others.  They  lost  their  Empire 
because  they  loved  their  people,  believed  them,  and  con- 
fided in  them.  History  may  judge  the  monarch  and  his 
companion  in  the  Imperial  dignity  by  the  political  events 
of  their  reign.  It  is  the  privilege,  it  is  the  duty,  of  the 
friend  to  judge  the  man  and  the  woman,  to  judge  their 
hearts.  But  if  historical  writings  were  free  from  errors 
of  fact  and  were  a  philosophical  record  of  the  actions  of 
men,  stating  correctly  their  motives  and  their  material 
and  moral  limitations,  and  giving  credit  to  whom  credit 
was  due,  many  of  those  persons  who  are  condemned  by 
public  opinion  would  be  admired  and  honored. 

Indeed,  few  women  who  have  sat  upon  a  throne  have 
a  larger  claim  to  the  love  and  esteem  of  their  people,  or 
have  shown  to  the  world  a  higher  and  more  charming 
personal  character  than  the  noble  consort  of  Napoleon  III. 
The  conduct  of  her  whole  life  bears  witness  to  this. 

The  first  act  of  the  Countess  of  Teba  after  her  engage- 
ment to  the  Emperor,  like  so  many  of  her  acts,  was  one 
of  charity.  The  Municipal  Council  of  Paris,  desirous  to 
show  its  devotion  to  the  Emperor's  bride,  had  voted  a  sum 
of  600,000  francs  for  the  purpose  of  purchasing  for  her 
a  set  of  diamonds. 

When  the  Countess  heard  of  this  she  addressed  to  the 
Prefect  of  the  Seine  the  following  letter: 

' '  Monsieur  le  Prefet  :  I  have  been  moved  greatly 
by  hearing  of  the  generous  decision  which  the  Municipal 
Council  of  Paris  has  taken,  and  by  which  it  manifests 
its  sympathetic  approval  of  the  union  which  the  Emperor 
is  about  to  contract.  Nevertheless,  it  would  pain  me  to 
think  that  the  first  public  document  to  which  my  name 


MARRIAGE    OF    THE    EMPEROR  93 

is  attached  at  the  moment  of  my  marriage,  should  record 
a  considerable  expense  for  the  city  of  Paris. 

:  You  will,  therefore,  please  permit  me  to  decline 
your  gift,  however  flattering  it  is  to  me.  You  will  make 
me  happier  by  using  for  charitable  purposes  the  sum  that 
you  have  appropriated  for  the  purchasing  of  the  diamond 
set  which  the  Municipal  Council  intended  to  present  to  me. 
"  I  do  not  wish  that  my  marriage  should  impose  any 
new  burden  on  the  country  to  which  I  belong  from  this 
moment;  and  the  only  ambition  I  have  is  to  share  with 
the  Emperor  the  love  and  esteem  of  the  French  people. 

1  I  beg  you,  M.  le  Prefet,  to  express  to  your  Council 
my  very  sincere  thanks,  and  to  accept  the  assurance  of 
my  great  esteem. 

"  Eugenie,  Comtesse  de  Teba. 
Palais  de  l'Elysee,  January  26th,  1853." 


it 


In  conformity  with  this  wish  of  the  bride  of  the  Em- 
peror the  sum  voted  by  the  City  Council  was  used  for  the 
erection  of  an  establishment  in  the  Faubourg  Saint  Antoine, 
where  young  girls  receive  a  professional  education.  This 
establishment  was  opened  in  the  year  1857,  and  placed 
under  the  protection  of  her  Majesty;  in  it  were  accommo- 
dations for  300  pupils. 

But  not  satisfied  with  declining  the  gift  of  the  Paris 
Municipal  Council  and  suggesting  its  use  for  charitable 
purposes,  the  Countess  of  Teba  set  the  example  she  wished 
others  to  follow,  by  taking  the  250,000  francs  the  Emperor 
had  placed  among  her  wedding  presents,  and  sending  them 
to  be  distributed  among  the  poor. 

In  order  to  be  always  informed  of  cases  where  help  and 
assistance  to  the  sick  were  especially  needed,  the  Empress, 
during  the  whole  period  of  her  reign,  was  surrounded  by 
a  staff  of  persons  whose  business  it  was  to  inquire  into  the 
condition  of  the  poor  and  suffering,  and  to  report  the  result 
of  their  investigations  to  her  personally. 
8 


94  THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

Her  Majesty  not  only  generously  disposed  of  her  fortune 
in  charitable  work  and  gave  assistance  in  special  cases  on 
the  representation  of  others,  but  she  went  herself  to  visit 
the  needy,  even  in  the  most  remote  quarters  of  her  capital. 

Frequently,  and  especially  in  winter  when  the  indigent 
suffer  the  most,  the  Empress  left  her  palace  incognito, 
accompanied  by  one  faithful  attendant  only,  to  visit  the 
dwellings  where  she  had  been  informed  there  was  destitu- 
tion and  distress.  On  many  occasions  she  ascended  to  the 
attics  where  the  poor  persons  lived,  not  minding  the  fatigue, 
and  sat  down  by  the  beds,  without  fearing  contagion,  to 
encourage  the  sick  by  her  presence  and  with  kind  words. 

The  courage  and  self-sacrifice  she  at  times  exhibited, 
when  engaged  in  benevolent  and  charitable  work,  were  con- 
spicuously shown  during  her  memorable  visits  to  the  cholera 
hospitals  in  Paris  and  at  Amiens. 

On  October  23d,  1865,  cholera  was  epidemic  in  the  city 
of  Paris,  and  the  deaths  had  within  a  few  days  increased 
so  rapidly,  that  a  state  of  panic  reigned  among  the  in- 
habitants. Most  of  those  who  were  able  to  do  so  had 
left,  or  were  preparing  to  leave,  the  city,  but  the  Empress 
Eugenie  took  this  opportunity  to  give  to  her  subjects  an 
example  of  courage.  It  is  well  known  that  fear  is  a  very 
effective  agent  in  the  propagation  of  disease.  The  Em- 
press, wishing  to  show  that  there  was  no  good  reason  for 
fear,  visited  successively  the  cholera  patients  at  the  Beau- 
jon,  Lariboisiere,  and  Saint  Antoine  hospitals. 

I  may  mention  a  little  incident  that  occurred  at  this 
time.  When  visiting  the  Hospital  of  Saint  Antoine,  the 
Empress  addressed  a  question  to  a  patient ;  the  man,  whose 
sight  had  become  weak,  on  account  of  his  being  in  a  state 
of  collapse  and  at  the  point  of  death,  answered,  ' '  Yes,  my 
sister. ' ' 

"  My  friend,"  said  the  Lady  Superior  of  the  hospital, 
"  it  is  not  I  who  speak  to  you,  but  the  Empress." 

"  Do  not  correct  him,  my  good  Mother,"  said  her  Maj- 


MARRIAGE    OF    THE    EMPEROR  95 

esty ;  "  it  is  the  most  beautiful  name  he  could  have  given 
to  me." 

And  when,  on  returning  to  the  palace,  one  of  her  ladies- 
in-waiting,  having  learned  where  she  had  been,  said :  "  I  am 
sorry  you  did  not  ask  me  to  go  with  you — if  I  am  permitted 
to  participate  in  your  pleasures,  I  think  it  is  only  right 
that  I  should  share  your  dangers,"  the  Empress  replied: 
'  No,  my  dear;  it  was  my  duty  as  Empress  to  take  this 
risk;  but  I  should  do  very  wrongly  were  I  to  request  you, 
who  are  a  mother  and  have  other  duties,  to  imperil  your  life 
unnecessarily. ' ' 

In  the  following  year  the  cholera  raged  fearfully  among 
the  unfortunate  inhabitants  of  Amiens,  where  the  alarm 
was  greater,  if  possible,  than  it  had  been  in  Paris.  On  the 
4th  of  July,  upon  the  receipt  of  the  news  of  the  enormous 
number  of  deaths  that  had  occurred  there,  the  Empress  left 
her  capital,  accompanied  by  the  Countess  de  Lourmet  and 
the  Marquis  de  Piennes,  and  hastened  to  Amiens,  where, 
immediately  upon  arriving,  she  drove  to  the  Hotel  Dieu. 
She  visited  all  the  wards  of  this  hospital  without  excep- 
tion, stopping  at  the  bed  of  every  patient.  Taking  their 
hands,  she  spoke  to  them  kindly,  and  perhaps  saved  the 
lives  of  many  by  thus  reviving  their  hopes.  As  she  was 
about  to  depart,  two  little  children  who  had  been  made 
orphans  by  the  epidemic  were  pointed  out  to  her  by  M.  Cor- 
nuau.  When  the  Empress  beheld  them,  she  instantly  said : 
'  I  adopt  them.  They  shall  be  provided  for."  Many  of 
the  bystanders,  at  these  words  of  her  Majesty,  were  moved 
to  tears. 

From  the  Hotel  Dieu,  the  Empress  drove  to  the  City 
Hall,  where  she  remained  for  a  short  time,  and  afterward 
visited  the  hospitals  in  the  Rue  de  Noyon,  kept  by  the 
Petites-Sceurs-des-Paavres,  the  charitable  institutions  in 
the  Quartier  Saint-Leu,  and  in  the  Rue  Gresset,  and  many 
other  hospitals  besides.  And  then  she  went  to  the  great 
Cathedral — the  noble  and  solemn  magnificence  of  which  so 


96  THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

impressed  Napoleon,  that  he  exclaimed :  ' '  An  atheist  would 
not  feel  at  home  here !  ' ' — to  pray  to  God  to  deliver  the  good 
city  of  Amiens  from  the  power  of  the  scourge. 

In  order  to  perpetuate  the  remembrance  of  this  visit  to 
Amiens,  a  painting  representing  the  Empress  at  the  bed  of 
a  cholera  patient  was  placed  in  one  of  the  halls  of  the 
museum  of  that  city.  The  Municipal  Council  of  Amiens 
has,  however,  lately  ordered  this  painting  to  be  taken  away. 
But  the  visit  of  her  Majesty,  who  came  as  an  angel  of  pity 
in  the  hour  of  suffering,  will  long  be  remembered  by  the 
inhabitants  of  the  ancient  capital  of  Picardy. 

Always  faithful  to  her  Church,  and  sedulously  observ- 
ant of  her  religious  obligations  and  duties,  the  Empress  is 
absolutely  free  from  any  suspicion  of  sacerdotalism. 

As  the  Emperor  himself  said  of  her :  ' '  She  is  pious  but 
not  bigoted. ' '  How  could  she  ever  have  been  bigoted,  with 
Henri  Beyle  as  the  mentor  of  her  youth,  and  Merimee  the 
friend  of  her  later  years;  both  accomplished  litterateurs 
and  men  of  the  world,  but  materialists  both,  and  each  capa- 
ble— if  men  ever  were — of  eating  a  priest  for  breakfast? 
Indeed,  the  society  in  which  she  passed  her  whole  life  from 
her  earliest  childhood,  if  not  precisely  latitudinarian,  was 
one  of  great  intellectual  breadth,  in  which  questions  of 
every  sort  were  discussed  on  every  side  and  with  the  utmost 
freedom. 

"When  M.  Duruy  proposed  to  open  the  University  for 
"  the  higher  education  "  of  girls  he  brought  down  upon 
himself  the  wrath  of  the  ultra-Catholic  party,  led  by  Du- 
panloup,  the  fiery  Bishop  of  Orleans,  and  encouraged  by 
Pius  IX.  himself,  who  praised  the  Bishop  for  having  ' '  de- 
nounced those  men  who,  charged  with  the  administration 
of  public  affairs,  were  favoring  the  designs  of  impiety  by 
new  and  unheard-of  attempts,  and  imprudently  putting  the 
last  hand  to  the  ruin  of  social  order."  That  such  opinions 
were  not  her  opinions,   the  Empress  did  not  hesitate  to 


MARRIAGE    OF    THE    EMPEROR  97 

openly  declare,  and  she  emphasized  her  position  with  re- 
spect to  these  ' '  designs  of  impiety  ' '  by  sending  her  nieces 
to  attend  the  lectures  at  the  Sorbonne. 

Whatever  in  her  own  mind  she  might  hold  to  be  the 
ultimate  truth,  she  had  learned  and  believed  that  religion 
was  largely  a  personal  matter  and  an  inheritance,  and,  con- 
sequently, has  always  regarded  with  tolerance,  and  with 
sympathy  even,  the  members  of  every  confession  and  the 
worshipers  at  altars  other  than  her  own.  And  this  tol- 
erance is  genuine  and  true.  It  is  no  product  of  policy  or 
indifference.  It  is  the  result  of  knowledge.  For  the  Em- 
press has  discovered,  as  many  of  us  have,  that  respect  for 
the  temples  of  others  in  no  way  weakens,  but  rather 
strengthens,  the  veneration  in  which  we  hold  our  own  holy 
places. 

I  shall  never  forget  her  unconcealed  indignation  on  a 
certain  occasion — since  she  has  been  living  in  England — 
when  some  one  remarked :  "  It  was  the  man 's  religion,  I 
suppose,  that  condemned  him. "  "  No !  "  said  she,  starting 
up  suddenly;  "  a  religion  should  condemn  no  one.  I  don't 
believe  it.  It  would  be  a  disgrace  to  our  Christian  civiliza- 
tion— to  any  civilization."  And  turning  towards  me  she 
continued :  ' '  You  are  a  Protestant,  I  am  a  Catholic,  another 
is  a  Jew.  Is  the  difference  in  our  religious  opinions,  in  our 
forms  of  worship  of  one  and  the  same  great  God,  a  reason 
why  we  should  be  not  equal  before  the  law?  Is  it  on  the 
pretext  of  these  differences  that  we  are  to  be  refused  justice 
in  our  courts  1  The  idea  is  monstrous !  There  is  but  one 
justice  before  God;  and  it  belongs  to  all  men  alike,  rich  or 
poor,  black  or  white,  Catholic  or  Protestant,  Jew  or  Gen- 
tile. ' '  And  these  opinions — this  large  and  tolerant  spirit — 
owed  nothing  to  her  altered  situation  in  life  and  a  new 
environment. 

Some  time  in  the  early  sixties,  the  Grand  Rabbi  of 
France  received  a  note  asking  him  to  come  to  the  Tuileries 
on  the  following  morning.     His  astonishment  was  great. 


98  THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

What  had  he  done  that  should  have  provoked  this  sudden 
summons1?  With  fear  and  trepidation  he  went  to  the  pal- 
ace, and  was  ushered  into  the  apartment  of  a  chamberlain. 
Here  he  was  told  that  the  Empress  wished  to  see  him.  On 
being  introduced  into  her  cabinet  the  Empress  to  his 
surprise  received  him  very  graciously;  but  he  was,  if  pos- 
sible, still  more  astonished  when  he  learned  her  Majesty's 
object  in  requesting  him  to  come  to  the  palace :  She  wished 
to  obtain  his  advice  and  cooperation  in  a  charity  in  which 
she  was  greatly  interested — one  intended  for  the  special 
benefit  of  the  Jews. 

Nor  did  the  Empress  restrict  her  liberalities  and  activi- 
ties to  work  that  was  merely  eleemosynary  and  philan- 
thropic. She  was  keenly  interested  in  everything  that 
might  extend  the  moral  power,  the  civilizing  influence,  the 
language,  and  the  fame  of  the  French  nation.  She  was 
ever  ready  to  encourage  literature,  art,  and  science  by  appre- 
ciative words  and  helpful  gifts. 

Those  famous  ' '  house  parties  ' '  at  Compiegne  were  not 
assemblies,  as  so  often  represented,  of  men  and  women  pre- 
occupied with  fashion  and  the  frivolities  of  life,  but  of  per- 
sons distinguished  in  the  liberal  professions  and  arts,  or  for 
their  special  accomplishments  or  personal  achievements. 
An  invitation  to  pass  a  week  in  her  society  was  among  the 
gracious  ways  the  Empress  took  to  encourage  those  who 
were  striving  to  widen  and  enrich  the  field  of  knowledge 
and  cultivate  a  love  of  the  true  and  the  beautiful  in  the 
service  of  man,  and  to  express  her  recognition  of  the  merits 
of  a  Leverrier  or  a  Pasteur,  of  an  Ernest  Legouve,  a 
Gerome,  or  a  Gounod.  And  was  it  not  Flandrin  who  wrote 
to  his  friend  Laurens  to  tell  him  hoAv  the  Empress  never 
ceased  in  her  attentions  to  him  while  he  was  a  guest  at 
Compiegne?  That  this  generous  hospitality  was  appre- 
ciated, at  the  time,  by  those  who  were  privileged  to  enjoy 
it,  we  may  feel  quite  sure  when  a  man  of  the  eminence  and 
sobriety  of  speech  of  M.  Victor  Cousin — who  always  stood 


MARRIAGE    OF    THE    EMPEROR  99 

aloof  from  the  Empire — could  write  to  her  and  say :  '  The 
esteem  of  such  a  person  as  you  ought  to  satisfy  the  most 
ambitious. ' ' 

But  for  the  things  of  the  mind  themselves  she  had  a 
genuine  love.  Nothing  delighted  her  more  than  to  be  able 
to  steal  away  with  some  book  that  had  captured  her  fancy, 
and,  all  alone  by  herself,  devour  its  contents.  She  was  also 
fond  of  drawing,  and  of  painting  in  water-colors ;  and  she 
made  many  original  designs  and  sketches,  intended  to  show 
landscape  effects,  for  the  use  of  the  engineers  who  were  en- 
gaged in  laying  out  the  Bois  de  Boulogne.  She  was  even  a 
competitor  for  the  prize  offered  for  the  best  design  for  the 
new  Opera  House ;  and  if  she  failed  to  obtain  it,  she  at  least 
had  the  satisfaction  of  hearing  that  her  work  was  judged 
to  be  of  sufficient  excellence  to  entitle  it  to  an  "  honorable 
mention." 

Much  of  the  decorative  painting  in  the  Empress'  apart- 
ments at  the  Tuileries  was  designed  and  executed  under  her 
immediate  direction.  Taking  Cabanel  one  day  into  her 
cabinet  de  travail — "  There,"  said  she,  "is  a  panel— 
you  see  there  is  nothing  on  it  but  a  cord.  Make  me  a  pic- 
ture for  it.  If  you  don't,"  she  continued,  looking  at  the 
artist  with  the  utmost  gravity,  "  the  cord  can  be  used  to 
hang — you. ' '  And  so  it  was  that  to  escape  being  hung  him- 
self, Cabanel  painted  his  famous  picture  of  ' '  Ruth  ' ' — and 
then  his  fine  portrait  of  Napoleon  III.,  that  was  placed  in 
the  same  room. 

The  Empress  was  a  sincere  lover  of  Art,  of  healthy 
Art,  of  architecture,  of  pictures  of  nature  as  seen  out-of- 
doors  under  the  sky,  of  the  mysterious  and  ever-changing 
sea,  and  of  the  land  in  its  infinite  variety  of  shape,  of 
texture,  and  of  color — of  mountains,  and  valleys,  and 
streams,  and  fields,  and  trees,  and  cattle.  Indeed,  for 
homely,  rural  pictures  she  has  always  had  a  strong  pre- 
dilection. One,  therefore,  will  not  be  surprised  to  hear  that 
she  was  an  early  admirer  of  the  works  of  Rosa  Bonheur,  or 


* 
» 


100         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

that  she  publicly  recognized  the  merits  of  that  highly  gifted 
woman  by  attaching  with  her  own  hands  the  Cross  of  the 
Legion  of  Honor  to  the  lapel  of  Rosa's  jacket.  But  gifted 
as  she  was  with  fine  artistic  sense,  she  appreciated  genius 
wherever  she  saw  it.  How  much  M.  Violet  le  Due,  the 
famous  archaeological  architect,  owed  to  her  may  never 
be  known.  Not  always,  however,  was  her  generous  patron- 
age forgotten.  The  deposed  sovereign  still  possesses  many 
souvenirs  of  grateful  remembrance  from  artists  whom  she 
encouraged  and  aided  when  she  had  the  power  to  do  so. 
But  the  one  cherished  above  all  others,  and  never  out  of 
her  Majesty's  sight  when  she  is  at  Farnborough,  is  Car- 
peaux'  statue  of  the  Prince  Imperial  standing  by  the  side 
of  his  dog  Nero — a  work  of  beauty — a  figure  full  of  grace, 
the  lines  in  the  face  of  which  are  as  pure  and  charming  as 
those  in  the  bust  of  the  young  Augustus. 

With  the  extraordinary  curiosity  to  know  that  charac- 
terized the  Empress,  it  is  not  surprising  that  she  was  pas- 
sionately fond  of  traveling ;  that  she  wished  to  see  the  great 
world  beyond  the  borders  of  France,  and  loved  to  visit 
strange  lands,  and  to  listen  to  reports  and  stories  about 
distant  or  unexplored  countries.  Indeed,  such  was  her  in- 
terest in  these  matters  that  in  July,  1869,  she  set  aside  from 
her  own  private  purse  the  sum  of  200,000  francs  as  a  per- 
petual fund,  the  interest  of  which — estimated  at  10,000 
francs — was  to  be  awarded  annually  to  the  Frenchman  who 
during  the  preceding  year  should  have  made  the  most  im- 
portant contribution  to  geographical  knowledge. 

And  every  one  knows  the  deep  interest  she  took  in  the 
construction  of  the  Suez  Canal;  how  warmly  she  espoused 
the  cause  of  M.  de  Lesseps  in  1865 ;  how  she  encouraged  him 
in  the  hours  of  his  greatest  difficulty ;  how  he  acknowledged 
her  to  be  the  "  guardian  angel  of  the  canal,"  to  have 
been  to  him  "  what  Isabella,  the  Catholic,  was  to  Christo- 
pher Columbus  ";  and  how  she  went  to  Egypt  to  enjoy 
with  him  his  triumph,  and  to  rejoice  during  those  glorious 


MARRIAGE    OF    THE    EMPEROR  101 

and  splendid  days  when  the  waters  of  the  Red  Sea  and 
those  of  the  Mediterranean  were  formally  joined  together, 
and  a  new  pathway  was  opened  to  the  commerce  of  the 
world  by  French  genius,  energy,  and  perseverance.  I  can 
never  forget  her  radiant  tigure  as  she  stood  on  the  bridge 
of  the  Aigle,  while  the  Imperial  yacht  slowly  passed  by 
the  immense  throng  that  had  assembled  on  the  banks  of 
the  canal  to  greet  her  Majesty  on  her  arrival  at  Ismalia. 
What  a  welcome  she  received  from  those  children  of  the 
desert!  "  Vive  I'Imperatrice!  "  "  Vive  Eugenie!  " — 
with  cannon  firing,  and  a  thousand  flags  and  banners  wav- 
ing. But  not  to  herself  did  she  take  these  honors.  It  was 
to  France  that  she  gave  them — as,  finally  overcome  with 
patriotic  feeling,  she  covered  her  eyes  with  her  handker- 
chief to  suppress  her  tears.  And  the  pity  of  it  all !  Only 
a  few  years  later  this  great  work  with  its  vast  consequences 
slipped  forever  out  of  the  feeble  hands  that  held  it. 

While  recording  here  some  of  my  personal  impressions 
and  souvenirs  relating  particularly  to  those  moral  attri- 
butes with  which  in  my  judgment  her  Majesty  was  so  richly 
endowed,  it  may  be  interesting  to  note  that,  after  the  fall 
of  the  Empire,  there  was  found  at  the  Tuileries  a  manu- 
script in  the  handwriting  of  the  Emperor,  containing  his 
own  appreciation  of  the  character  of  his  consort.  It  was 
written  in  1868,  fifteen  years  after  his  marriage. 

In  it,  among  other  things,  he  says:  "  The  character  of 
the  Empress  still  remains  that  of  a  lady  of  the  simplest  and 
most  natural  tastes.  .  .  .  The  lot  of  all  classes  of  the 
unfortunate  constantly  awakens  her  special  solicitude. 
.  .  .  How  many  generous  reforms  she  still  pursues  with 
marvelous  perseverance!  A  little  of  the  young  Phalan- 
sterian  is  still  to  be  found  in  her.  The  condition  of  women, 
singularly  preoccupies  her.  Her  efforts  are  given  to  the 
elevation  of  her  sex.  ...  At  Compiegne  nothing  is 
more  attractive  than  a  tea-party  of  the  Empress  (un  the 
de  I'Imperatrice). 


102         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

"  Surrounded  by  a  select  circle,  she  talks  with  equal 
facility  upon  the  most  abstract  questions,  or  on  the  most 
familiar  topics  of  the  day.  The  freshness  of  her  powers  of 
perception,  and  the  strength,  the  boldness  even,  of  her  opin- 
ions at  once  impress  and  captivate.  Her  mode  of  express- 
ing herself,  occasionally  incorrect,  is  full  of  color  and  of 
life.  With  astonishing  power  of  exact  expression  in  con- 
versation on  common  affairs,  she  rises,  in  remarks  on  mat- 
ters of  state  or  morality,  to  a  pitch  of  real  eloquence. 

"  Pious  without  being  bigoted,  well  informed  Avithout 
being  pedantic,  she  talks  on  all  subjects  without  constraint. 
She  perhaps  is  too  fond  of  discussion.  Very  sprightly  in 
her  nature,  she  often  lets  herself  be  carried  away  by  her 
feelings,  which  have  more  than  once  excited  enmities;  but 
her  exaggerations  have  invariably,  for  their  foundation,  the 
love  of  that  which  is  good." 

The  love  and  admiration  of  the  Emperor  for  her  whom 
he  had  chosen  to  be  his  life  companion  only  increased  as 
the  years  passed.  He  was  proud  of  her  beauty;  so  much 
so  that  he  was  heard  to  say,  more  than  once,  as  she  ap- 
peared, dressed  for  some  public  occasion,  "  Comme  elle  est 
belle!  "  But  he  was  in  reality,  as  one  may  see  from  the 
language  he  uses  in  describing  his  consort,  still  prouder 
of  her  intellectual  and  moral  qualities.  He  was  forever 
charmed  by  the  brilliancy  of  her  conversation,  and  still 
more  so  by  the  sincerity  of  her  character  and  the  purity  of 
her  ideals  in  all  matters  of  conduct.  The  Emperor  and 
the  Empress  thoroughly  understood  and  thoroughly  appre- 
ciated each  other;  and  their  mutual  affection  was  indis- 
solubly  united  in  their  love  of  an  only  son,  a  love  which 
knew  no  bounds  and  was  complete  and  perfect.  This  was 
the  light  of  the  life  of  each. 

Were  I  to  express  in  a  few  words  what  to  me  has  always 
seemed  to  be  the  distinguishing  quality  of  her  Majesty's 
character,  I  should  say  it  is  her  perfect  naturalness.  She 
was  always  at  home,  in  every  sense  of  that  word.     In  what- 


MARRIAGE    OF    THE    EMPEROR  103 

ever  situation  she  might  be  placed,  she  was  as  free  from 
self-consciousness  as  a  child.  It  was  the  spontaneity  of 
the  spoken  word,  the  freedom  of  movement,  its  instinc- 
tive grace,  and,  above  all,  the  spiritual  sincerity  apparent 
in  every  word  and  act,  that  gave  to  her  personality  its 
irresistible  charm.  And  yet  this  characterization  would 
fail  to  express  the  whole  truth,  did  I  not  say  that  her 
Majesty  is  not  exempt  from  the  defects  of  her  qualities. 
Had  she  permitted  herself  to  be  less  under  the  empire  of 
her  natural  impulses,  and  less  frequently  given  to  the  viva- 
cious expression  of  her  feelings  and  her  thoughts,  and  been 
more  observant  of  the  conventionalities  that  were  insepa- 
rable from  her  official  station  and  were  often  imperative, 
she  might  have  avoided  much  of  the  criticism  to  which  she 
has  been  subjected  and  to  which,  I  have  no  doubt,  she  for 
the  most  part  unconsciously  and  innocently  exposed  herself. 
She  has  suffered,  and  sometimes  severely,  in  the  judgment 
of  the  world,  as  have  other  women — as  does  all  emotional 
imaginative  humanity  that  is  in  the  habit  of  speaking  with 
little  premeditation  and  without  much  reserve.  To  words 
expressing  merely  the  passing  sentiment  of  the  moment  a 
meaning  was  often  imputed  which  they  were  never  in- 
tended to  convey.  Sometimes,  they  were  supposed  to  rep- 
resent her  political  convictions  and  sometimes  her  personal 
antipathies.     They  generally  represented  neither. 

To  one  of  his  friends  who  thought  he  had  occasion  to 
complain  of  a  rather  sharp  remark  addressed  to  him  by  her 
Majesty,  the  Emperor  replied :  ' '  You  know  the  Empress  is 
very  hasty — but  in  reality  she  is  very  fond  of  you !  ' ' 

As  for  her  Majesty's  political  convictions  and  sympa- 
thies, I  will  only  say,  in  this  connection,  that  they  have  been 
grossly  misrepresented — for  partizan  purposes.  The  4th  of 
September  must  be  justified ;  it  is  always  injustice  that  re- 
quires instant  and  persistent  justification.  It  is  the  old — 
the  everlasting  story:  "  And  then  they  began  to  accuse 
him,  saying  we  found  this  fellow  perverting  the  nation." 


104         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

When  the  protagonists  of  the  Third  Republic  have 
passed  away,  and  the  history  of  the  Second  Empire  can  be 
judged  without  prejudice,  the  true  character  of  the  Em- 
press Eugenie — her  public  virtues,  her  goodness  and  her 
kindness,  especially  to  the  poor,  will  be  recognized  and 
gratefully  remembered  by  the  French  people.  It  is  the 
business,  it  is  the  duty,  of  posterity  to  rectify  the  mistakes 
of  contemporary  opinion ;  but  happily,  as  Alexandre  Du- 
mas, the  younger,  has  wittily  said  of  this  opinion,  when  it 
relates  to  French  affairs :  "  La  posterite  commence  aux 
frontieres  de  la  France." 


CHAPTER    IV 

THE    IMPERIAL    COURT — THE    WAR    OF    THE    REBELLION 

The  Imperial  Court — "  Paris  the  heaven  of  Americans  " — The  banquet 
to  General  John  A.  Dix — The  American  colony — How  things  have 
changed — Parisian  Society  in  those  days — Causes  of  its  decadence 
— Its  "exoticism" — Sunt  lacrimse  rerum — The  War  of  the  Rebellion 
— The  Emperor  not  unfriendly  to  our  Government — Mr.  William 
M.  Dayton — How  I  kept  the  Emperor  informed  with  respect  to 
the  progress  of  the  War — The  Roebuck  incident — The  Emperor 
is  urged  to  recognize  the  Southern  Confederacy — How  he  came  to 
suggest  friendly  mediation — He  sends  for  me  to  come  to  Com- 
piegne — The  interview  and  what  came  of  it — My  visit  to  America 
— Interviews  with  Mr.  Lincoln  and  Mr.  Seward — Visit  to  City  Point 
— Conversations  with  General  Grant — His  opinion  of  "political 
generals" — The  Emperor's  first  words  on  my  return — Why  the 
Imperial  Government  did  not  recognize  the  Southern  Confeder- 
acy— The  Mexican  Expedition — The  assassination  of  Mr.  Lincoln 
— The  United  States  Sanitary  Commission — The  Empress'  letter 
to  me. 

HAD  the  honor  of  being  among  the  first  of  the 
Americans  that  the  Emperor  knew  intimately, 
although  before  I  made  his  acquaintance  in 
Paris  he  had  visited  the  United  States.  Hav- 
ing arrived  there  in  March,  1837,  with  the  intention  of 
remaining  at  least  a  year  for  the  purpose  of  studying  the 
institutions  of  the  country,  in  less  than  three  months  he 
was  called  back  to  Europe  suddenly  by  the  illness  of  his 
mother.  Of  the  few  acquaintances  he  made  in  this  brief 
visit  he  retained  to  the  end  of  his  life  very  pleasant  mem- 
ories ;  for  the  most  enduring  trait  in  his  character,  and  the 
one  perhaps  most  strongly  marked,  was  his  lively  remem- 

105 


106         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

brance  of  kindnesses  shown  him,  particularly  when  he  was 
an  exile.  He  never  forgot  a  person,  however  lowly,  who 
had  been  kind  to  him  in  England,  Germany,  Italy,  or 
wherever  else  he  had  lived;  and  he  afterward,  when  Em- 
peror, gave  to  some  of  these  persons  positions  of  which 
they  were  scarcely  worthy.  He  would  even  go  to  much 
trouble  to  find  out  what  had  become  of  men  who  made  no 
effort  to  recall  themselves  to  his  memory.  It  was  most 
natural,  therefore,  that  he  should  remember  his  visit  to 
America,  under  the  unhappy  circumstances  which  caused 
him  to  leave  Europe,  and  never  forgot  the  attentions  he 
received  while  in  New  York  and  in  other  cities  of  the 
United  States,  for  they  were  bestowed  when  he  was  in 
the  greatest  need  of  sympathy  and  most  susceptible  of 
kindness. 

At  no  court  in  Europe  were  Americans  more  en  evidence 
than  at  that  of  the  Tuileries  during  the  entire  reign  of 
Napoleon  III.  and  the  Empress  Eugenie.  They  both  spoke 
the  English  language  perfectly,  and  the  Emperor  had  that 
broad  way  of  looking  at  things,  those  liberal  ideas,  that  love 
of  progress,  which  enabled  him  to  appreciate  the  greatness 
of  our  rapidly  growing  country,  the  energy  of  our  men, 
the  beauty  and  elegance  of  our  women,  their  sparkling  wit 
and  self-dependence.  In  fact  Americans  were  always  well 
received  at  the  Imperial  Court,  especially  if  they  were  men 
or  women  of  distinction,  intelligence,  and  refinement;  and 
the  number  of  these,  particularly  of  women  remarkable 
for  their  social  accomplishments,  who  were  to  be  found 
in  Paris  during  the  Empire,  either  as  residents  or  as  occa- 
sional visitors,  was  very  large. 

Less  rigid  in  its  etiquette  than  most  European  courts, 
and  at  the  same  time  more  splendid  in  its  ceremonial  forms ; 
the  center  of  political  power  on  the  Continent,  and  the 
mirror  of  fashion  for  the  whole  world;  a  stage  on  which 
were  assembled  the  celebrities  of  the  day,  statesmen,  diplo- 
matists, generals,  persons  eminent  in  letters  and  in  art,  men 


THE   EMPRESS   EUGENIE. 

From  a  photograph  taken  about  1865. 


THE    IMPERIAL    COURT  107 

distinguished  in  every  field  of  human  interest,  and  women 
as  famous  for  their  wit  as  for  the  elegance  of  their  toilets 
and  their  personal  charms,  preeminent  among  whom  was 
the  lovely  Empress  herself,  a  vision  of  beauty  and  grace, 
always  with  a  pleasant  word,  or  a  sweet  smile,  or  a  bow  of 
recognition  for  every  one — is  it  wonderful  that  Paris,  in 
those  days,  seemed  most  attractive  to  Americans? 

It  used  often  to  be  said,  ' '  Paris  is  the  heaven  of  Ameri- 
cans;" and  we  were  even  encouraged  by  the  late  Mr.  Tom 
Appleton,  of  Boston,  to  be  virtuous  and  pious,  by  the  assur- 
ance ' '  that  all  good  Americans  when  they  die  go  to  Paris. ' ' 
And  should  this  assurance  be  regarded  by  a  few  incorrigible 
skeptics  as  the  language  of  transcendent  metaphor,  certainly 
no  foreign  visitors  to  the  splendid  capital  of  France  were 
better  able  than  we  Americans  to  understand  how  a  French- 
man, how  Sainte  Beuve  could  say:  "  0  Paris!  c'est  chez  toi 
qu'il  est  doux  de  vivre,  c'est  chez  toi  que  je  veux  mourir." 

Never  at  any  time  were  the  Governments  of  Europe  so 
splendidly  represented  at  the  French  Court.  The  ambassa- 
dors, the  ministers,  and  the  attaches  of  the  Embassies  and 
Legations  were  not  only  diplomatists  of  great  ability,  but 
were  men  of  the  world ;  and  their  wives  were  generally 
equally  remarkable  for  their  intelligence  and  brilliant  social 
accomplishments.  Men  and  women  like  Lord  and  Lady 
Cowley,  Count  Hiibner,  the  Prince  and  Princess  de  Metter- 
nich,  M.  de  Goltz,  Baron  Byens,  Count  Andrassy,  MM.  de 
Stiickelburg  and  Kisseleff,  the  Count  and  Countess  Hatz- 
feld,  Signor  Nigra,  and  scores  of  others  of  equal  rank 
and  distinction,  could  not  fail  by  their  presence  to  add 
luster  to  a  court  already  remarkable  for  its  elegance  and 
urbanity. 

It  was  my  good  fortune  to  have  professional  relations 
with  the  families  of  nearly  all  the  diplomats  who  at  differ- 
ent times,  from  1852  to  1870,  were  accredited  to  the  Im- 
perial Government;  and  I  am  pleased  now  to  remember  a 
considerable  number  of  those  whose  acquaintance   I  first 


108         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

made  in  this  way,  not  so  much  because  they  were  men  and 
women  conspicuous  in  the  social  life  and  the  political  his- 
tory of  the  time,  as  because  I  have  always  felt  that  I  could 
count  them  among  the  number  of  my  warmest  and  truest 
friends.  I  think  I  may  say  this  without  indiscretion.  At 
least  I  hope  it  may  be  accepted  as  evidence  that  I  am  not 
speaking  without  knowledge  of  the  time  of  which  I  am 
writing. 

It  is  well  known  that  my  countrymen,  during  the  last 
few  years  of  the  Second  Empire,  were  in  the  enjoyment  of 
such  privileges  at  Court  as  to  be  regarded  with  no  little  envy 
by  the  members  of  all  the  foreign  colonies  in  Paris.  At  the 
splendid  receptions  given  in  the  winter,  in  the  great  salons 
of  Apollo  and  the  First  Consul,  where  the  whole  world  was 
brilliantly  represented,  few  of  the  foreign  ministers  or  am- 
bassadors ventured  to  bring  with  them  more  than  three  or 
four  of  their  compatriots.  But  our  Minister  was  generally 
attended  by  a  full  squadron  of  his  fair  countrywomen,  the 
delighted  witnesses  of  pageants  of  which  they  themselves 
were  one  of  the  chief  ornaments.  Could  it  be  expected  that 
one  should  not  sometimes  hear  it  said :  ' '  Ah,  those  Ameri- 
can Democrats!  How  they  do  love  kings  and  princes,  the 
pomps  and  ceremonies  of  courts !  ' '  And  they  did  love  to 
see  them  then,  and  still  do,  in  these  days  of  the  triumphant 
Democracy — not  at  home,  but  abroad,  where  they  leave  it 
to  their  Minister  or  Ambassador,  dressed  like  an  undertaker, 
to  represent  the  Jeffersonian  simplicity  of  the  great  Ameri- 
can Republic. 

Nor  can  some  of  us  ever  forget  the  gala  days  and  Vene- 
tian nights  at  Saint  Cloud,  at  Fontainebleau,  and  Com- 
piegne ;  nor  those  brilliant  scenes  on  the  ice,  in  the  Bois  de 
Boulogne,  where  all  Paris  assembled  to  enjoy  the  skating, 
gay  and  happy  in  the  keen  air  resonant  with  laughter,  our 
countrywomen  winning  the  admiration  of  every  one  for 
grace  of  movement,  and  elegance  of  dress,  and  sureness  of 
foot,  leaving  it  to  others  to  provide  the  gaucheries  and  the 


THE    IMPERIAL    COURT  109 

falls;  nor  how  the  Emperor  and  the  Empress  joined  with 
the  rest  in  the  exhilarating  sport,  and  enjoyed  the  fun  of 
it  all  with  the  zest  and  enthusiasm  of  youth. 

Large  as  was  the  number  of  Americans  almost  always 
present  at  the  concerts  and  balls  given  at  the  Tuileries, 
who  received  through  the  United  States  Legation  their  in- 
vitations for  these  as  well  as  for  other  great  official  func- 
tions, reviews,  and  festivals,  the  Emperor — thinking  that  it 
might  be  particularly  agreeable  to  Americans  to  witness 
these  displays,  coming  as  they  did  from  a  country  where 
such  spectacles  were  seldom  if  ever  seen — often  asked  me 
to  furnish  the  names  and  addresses  of  any  of  my  country 
people  who,  bein'g  in  Paris,  I  thought  might  like  to  receive 
invitations.  And  many  of  them  would  never  have  seen 
some  of  the  most  brilliant  assemblies  and  interesting  cere- 
monies that  took  place  during  a  very  remarkable  period  in 
French  history — a  period  of  unparalleled  magnificence — 
had  they  not  been  favored  in  this  way. 

Perhaps  the  most  notable  of  these  pageants — those  which 
appealed  most  strongly  to  the  popular  imagination — were 
the  entries  into  Paris  made  by  the  army  on  its  return  from 
the  Crimea  in  1855,  and  by  the  "  Army  of  Italy  "  in  1859. 
They  were  triumphs  "  such  as  were  formerly  accorded  by 
the  Roman  Senate  to  its  victorious  legions  ' ' ;  and  when  the 
Imperial  eagles  ' '  which  had  conquered  for  France  the  rank 
that  was  her  due,"  and  the  captured  standards  and  cannon, 
and  the  tattered  colors,  and  the  bronzed  and  war-worn 
heroes  passed  in  review  on  the  Place  Vendome,  before  the 
Emperor,  on  horseback,  surrounded  by  a  brilliant  staff 
drawn  up  at  the  foot  of  the  column  made  of  the  guns  cap- 
tured at  Austerlitz,  the  scene  was  most  impressive. 

I  remember,  as  if  it  were  yesterday,  the  14th  of  August, 
1859;  the  extraordinary  display,  on  this  occasion,  of  flags 
and  banners,  and  decorative  devices  and  inscriptions,  in  the 
Rue  de  la  Paix  and  the  principal  boulevards ;  the  triumphal 
arches;  the  immense  ornamental  columns  surmounted  by 


110         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

colossal  Victories  holding  in  their  outstretched  hands  golden 
wreaths  or  crowns  of  laurel ;  the  rich  draperies  spread  from 
balcony  to  balcony  across  the  facades  of  the  buildings  that 
front  upon  the  Place  Vendome;  the  great  tribunes  to  the 
right  and  the  left,  rising  tier  upon  tier,  and  filled  with  thou- 
sands of  people;  and  the  gallery  built  over  the  entrance 
of  the  Ministry  of  Justice,  where,  under  a  magnificent  can- 
opy of  crimson  velvet,  studded  with  golden  bees  and  fringed 
with  gold,  the  Empress  sat,  surrounded  by  the  ladies  of  her 
Court,  while  all  the  neighboring  windows  and  balconies  were 
occupied  by  the  great  dignitaries  of  the  Empire  in  their 
showy  uniforms  or  robes  of  office,  and  by  ladies  in  elegant 
costumes — the  very  roofs  of  the  houses  being  covered  with 
spectators.  As  regiment  after  regiment  passed  along  the  line 
of  march  flowers  were  thrown  from  every  window  and  cries 
of  "Vive  I'Empereur!  "  arose  on  every  side.  Suddenly,  as 
a  great  body  of  cavalry  debouched  from  the  Rue  de  la  Paix 
on  to  the  Place,  a  baby — the  little  Prince  Imperial,  now 
three  years  old — dressed  in  the  blue-and-red  uniform  of  the 
Grenadiers  de  la  Garde,  was  lifted  up  on  to  the  pommel 
of  the  saddle  in  front  of  the  Emperor.  The  scene  that 
immediately  followed  is  indescribable.  The  waving  of 
handkerchiefs,  the  dipping  of  colors,  the  flashing  of  sabers, 
the  storm  of  vivas  that  rang  out  from  the  officers,  the  sol- 
diers, the  tribunes,  the  whole  vast  assembly,  to  acclaim  the 
little  Prince  on  his  first  appearance  in  public,  appeared  to 
be  without  end.  This  union  of  the  future  of  the  nation 
with  the  triumph  of  the  army  of  Solferino  and  Magenta,  at 
the  foot  of  the  monument  that  commemorated  the  victories 
of  the  founder  of  the  dynasty,  seemed  most  auspicious 
and  touched  the  hearts  of  the  people.  They  had  been 
brought  in  contact  with  the  forces  that  govern  the  world, 
and  the  contagion  of  the  human  feeling  set  in  motion  was 
so  strong,  so  irresistible,  that  even  the  most  irreconcilable 
enemies  of  the  Government  were  carried  away  by  it,  and, 
joining  in  the  demonstration,  threw  flowers  at  the  feet  of 


THE    IMPERIAL    COURT  111 

the  Emperor  and  his  son,  and  cried  out  with  all   their 
might:  "  Vive  I'Armee!     Vive  la  France!  " 

Few  of  those  who  were  present  on  either  of  these 
occasions  will  ever  forget  the  immense  enthusiasm  with 
which  the  spectacle  revived  again  the  glories  of  the 
"  Grand  Army  "  and  the  memory  of  Napoleon. 

Say  what  some  Frenchmen  may  now,  there  were  never 
prouder  days  in  the  history  of  France  than  these. 

In  June,  1869,  a  banquet  was  given  by  the  American 
colony  to  General  John  A.  Dix,  who  was  about  to  leave 
Paris,  having  just  retired  from  his  post  as  our  Minister 
to  the  Imperial  Court,  after  he  had  served  his  country 
faithfully,  and  had  won  the  esteem,  the  admiration,  and 
the  love,  I  may  say,  of  all  who  were  fortunate  enough 
to  have  made  his  acquaintance.  Nearly  four  hundred 
Americans  were  assembled  together  on  this  occasion,  which 
was  the  most  brilliant  of  its  kind  in  the  history  of  our 
colony.  A  soldier  by  training,  General  Dix  was  widely 
acquainted  with  the  world,  deliberate  in  his  judgments, 
not  inclined  to  exaggeration,  and,  withal,  possessed  a  deli- 
cate and  highly  cultivated  sense  of  the  true  and  the  beau- 
tiful. His  reply  to  the  toast  offered  in  his  honor  was 
remarkable  in  many  respects;  but  among  the  words  then 
spoken  by  him,  none  perhaps  are  better  worth  remember- 
ing and  repeating  than  these : 

The  advantages  enjoyed  in  Paris  by  the  American 
Colony,  which  has  become  so  populous  as  almost  to  con- 
stitute a  distinctive  feature  in  the  physiognomy  of  the  city, 
can  be  by  none  better  appreciated  than  by  ourselves.  We 
are  living  without  personal  taxation  or  exactions  of  any 
sort  in  this  most  magnificent  of  modern  capitals,  full  of 
objects  of  interest,  abounding  in  all  that  can  gratify  the 
taste,  as  well  as  in  sources  of  solid  information;  and  these 
treasures  of  art  and  of  knowledge  are  freely  opened  to 
our  inspection  and  use.  Nor  is  this  all.  We  are  invited 
to  participate  most  liberally — far  more  liberally  than  at 


I 
I 


112         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

any  other  Court  in  Europe — in  the  hospitalities  of  the 
palace.  I  have  myself,  during  the  two  years  and  a  half 
of  my  service  here,  presented  to  their  Imperial  Majesties 
more  than  three  hundred  of  our  fellow-citizens  of  both 
sexes;  and  a  much  larger  number  presented  in  former 
years  have  during  the  same  period  shared  the  same 
courtesies. 

"  In  liberal  views,  and  in  that  comprehensive  forecast 
which  shapes  the  policy  of  the  present  to  meet  the  exigen- 
cies of  the  future,  the  Emperor  seems  to  me  to  be  decidedly 
in  advance  of  his  ministers,  and  even  of  the  popular  body 
chosen  by  universal  suffrage  to  aid  him  in  his  legislative 
labors.  Of  her  who  is  the  sharer  of  his  honors  and  the 
companion  of  his  toils,  who  in  the  hospital,  at  the  altar, 
or  on  the  throne,  is  alike  exemplary  in  the  discharge  of 
her  varied  duties,  whether  incident  to  her  position  or 
voluntarily  taken  upon  herself,  it  is  difficult  for  me  to 
speak  without  rising  above  the  common  language  of  eulo- 
gium.  As  in  the  history  of  the  ruder  sex  great  luminaries 
have  from  time  to  time  risen  high  above  the  horizon,  to 
break  and  at  the  same  time  to  illustrate  the  monotony  of 
the  general  movement,  so,  in  the  annals  of  hers,  brilliant 
lights  have  at  intervals  shone  forth  and  shed  their  luster 
upon  the  stately  march  of  regal  pomp  and  power.  Such 
was  one  of  her  royal  predecessors;  of  whom  Edmund 
Burke  said,  '  There  never  lighted  on  this  orb,  which  she 
scarcely  seemed  to  touch,  a  more  delightful  vision.'  Such 
was  that  radiant  Queen  of  Bohemia  whose  memory  history 
has  embalmed,  and  to  whom  Sir  Henry  Wotton,  in  a  mo- 
ment of  poetic  exaltation,  compared  the  beauties  of  the 
skies.  And  such  is  she  of  whom  I  am  speaking.  When 
I  have  seen  her  taking  part  in  that  most  imposing,  as  I 
think,  of  all  Imperial  pageants — the  opening  of  the  Legis- 
lative Chamber,  standing  amid  the  assembled  magistracy 
of  Paris  and  of  France,  surrounded  by  the  representatives 
of  the  talent,  the  genius,  the  learning,  the  literature,  and 


THE    IMPERIAL    COURT  US 

the  piety  of  this  great  Empire;  or  amid  the  resplendent 
scenes  of  the  palace,  moving  about  with  a  gracefulness  all 
her  own,  and  with  a  simplicity  of  manner  which  has  a 
double  charm  when  allied  to  exalted  rank  and  station,  I 
confess  I  have  more  than  once  whispered  to  myself,  and 
I  believe  not  always  inaudibly,  that  beautiful  verse  of  the 
graceful  and  courtly  Claudian,  the  last  of  the  Roman 
poets : 

'  Divino  semita  gressu  claruit  ' 

or,  rendered  into  our  plain  English  and  stripped  of  its 
poetic  hyperbole,  '  the  very  path  she  treads  is  radiant  with 
her  unrivaled  step.'  " 

The  special  favors  accorded  to  the  members  of  our 
colony  by  the  Imperial  Court  were  duly  appreciated. 
They  gave  pleasure  to  us,  but,  in  turn,  by  benefiting  the 
furnishers  of  all  the  beautiful  things  loved  and  admired 
by  Americans,  they  gave  pleasure  to  the  French  also. 

The  proportion  of  resident  members  in  the  American 
colony  was  much  greater  than  at  present,  and  our  colony 
then  formed  a  far  more  considerable  and  influential  sec- 
tion of  Parisian  society  than  it  does  to-day.  And  it  was 
all  the  while,  up  to  the  fall  of  the  Empire,  constantly 
growing  by  the  increase  of  its  permanent  elements. 

During  this  period,  the  cost  of  living  in  Paris  was 
relatively  small.  Rents  were  low,  the  domestic  service 
nearly  perfect,  and  luxuries  of  every  sort  cheap.  The 
educational  facilities  were  ample,  not  expensive,  and  of 
a  high  order.  Paris  was  not  only  a  delightful  place  for 
Hie  rich  to  live  in,  but  large  numbers  of  Americans  with 
moderate  incomes  found  that  they  could  reside  here  free 
from  a  multitude  of  cares,  in  comparative  elegance,  mem- 
bers of  a  cultivated  and  refined  society,  and  at  the  same 
time  could  secure  for  their  children  the  advantages  and 
accomplishments  of  a  superior  education. 

New  York,  Philadelphia,  and  Boston  were  always  well 


114         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

represented  in  our  colony.  But  the  Southern  contingent 
was  perhaps  the  strongest.  It  represented  a  large  con- 
stituency and  a  class  of  Americans  accustomed  to  spend 
money  freely.  If  the  war  of  1861-65  reduced  the  incomes 
of  these  Southern  colonists,  it  greatly  increased  their  num- 
ber. Moreover,  up  to  1861  the  American  Minister  to 
France  was  generally  a  Southern  man — the  series  ending 
with  William  C.  Rives,  John  Y.  Mason,  and  Charles  J. 
Falkner,  all  of  Virginia. 

Owing  to  the  great  increase  in  the  population  and 
wealth  of  the  United  States,  the  number  of  Americans 
who  visit  Paris  every  year  is  larger  now  than  it  was 
twenty-five  or  thirty  years  ago.  But  few  of  these  visitors 
remain  here  long,  and  those  who  do  have  generally  pre- 
ferred to  pitch  their  tents  among  the  nomads  of  the 
Quartier  Latin,  rather  than  live  in  the  more  conventional 
and  fashionable  Quartier  de  I'Etoile. 

How  things  have  changed  with  us  here  in  Paris  since 
1870!  Who  are  the  Americans  that  are  invited  to  the 
official  receptions  to-day?  The  members  of  our  Embassy 
and  a  few  persons  on  special  missions.  The  relations  be- 
tween Americans  and  the  representatives  of  the  French 
Government  are  now  wholly  official  and  perfunctory. 
Left,  since  the  disappearance  of  the  Imperial  Court,  with- 
out a  recognized  head  and  arbiter  of  forms  and  ceremonies, 
and  procedures  and  precedents,  Parisian  society  has  become 
broken  up  into  circles  and  cliques,  and  small  bodies  which 
move  about  subject  to  no  law,  and  whose  being  and 
coherence  would  seem  to  be  determined  solely  by  mutual 
repulsion. 

The  tone  of  Parisian  society  in  those  days  was  quite 
unlike  that  which  has  since  obtained.  It  was  cosmopolitan 
and  not  provincial,  and  was  a  reflex  of  the  political  pres- 
tige of  the  Empire  both  at  home  and  abroad.  It  was  a 
society  full  of  movement  and  originality,  of  unconven- 
tionality,   and  gaiety,   and   charm.     The  admirable   taste, 


THE    IMPERIAL    COURT  115 

the  artistic  sentiment  and  distinction  shown  by  those  who 
best  represented  it,  especially  in  everything  relating  to 
manners,  and  dress,  and  the  outward  appearance  of  the 
person,  found  expression  in  a  word  which  was  then  fre- 
quently used  to  symbolize  the  sum  of  all  these  mundane 
elegancies.  The  women  of  those  days  were  not  more  beau- 
tiful than  are  the  women  of  the  Republic;  but  the  women 
of  the  Empire  had  chic.  Every  one  then  who  was  some- 
body in  society — man  or  woman — was  chic,  if  not  by  na- 
ture or  by  grace,  by  example  and  habit.  As  this  word 
is  now  obsolescent,  at  least,  it  would  seem  as  if  the  qualities 
it  was  intended  to  express  were  gradually  dying  out.  Nor 
is  it  surprising  that  it  should  be  so — that  with  the  change 
in  the  Government  there  should  have  been  a  social  revul- 
sion as  well,  and  that  Parisian  society  under  the  Republic 
should  imitate  the  stiff  and  meager  conventionalities  and 
formalisms  of  the  bourgeois  monarchy ;  should  sneer  at 
'the  meretricious  splendor  of  the  Imperial  Court"; 
should  scoff  at  the  cocodettes  and  femmes  exotiques  of  the 
Second  Empire,  and  cultivate  a  narrow,  repellent,  and 
exclusive  Nationalism;  or,  moved  by  the  Democratic  spirit 
that  is  now,  at  the  end  of  the  century,  sweeping  over  the 
world,  should  be  rather  proud  than  otherwise  of  the  cotton 
umbrellas  of  Louis  Philippe,  and  the  frugalities  of  M. 
Grevy. 

The  generous  hospitality  extended  to  foreign  visitors 
by  the  Imperial  Court  was  often — sub  rosd — the  subject 
of  envious  or  cynical  comment  on  the  part  of  those  who 
witnessed  it.  But  the  journalists  and  chroniclers  of  the 
day  were  polite  to  strangers.  Since  the  fall  of  the  Em- 
pire, however,  its  "  exoticism,"  as  it  is  called,  has  become 
a  sort  of  Turk's  head  with  a  certain  class  of  writers. 
"  The  distinguished  but  slightly  bourgeois  element  that 
constituted  society  under  Louis  Philippe  ' ' — to  use  the  lan- 
guage of  one  of  these  writers — was  shocked  by  the  intro- 
duction into  France  of  outdoor  sports  such  as  tennis,  and 


116         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

archery,  and  hunting ;  and  was  made  inconsolable  on  learn- 
ing that  "  V argot  britannique  des  jockeys  "  had  forced 
its  way  into  Salons  once  famous  as  the  officines  of  the 
degermanised  Hegelianism  of  M.  Cousin.  These  political 
moralists  and  incorruptible  patriots  pretend  to  have  dis- 
covered in  a  fondness  for  foreigners  and  foreign  ideas 
the  origin  of  the  frivolity,  the  unbridled  license  and  cor- 
ruption which,  they  allege,  prevailed  during  nearly  the 
whole  of  the  Imperial  regime;  and  that  one  of  the  con- 
tributory causes  of  the  present  general  decadence  of  French 
society — which  they  acknowledge — was  the  favor  accorded 
by  the  Tout  Paris  of  that  time  to  princes  and  nabobs  from 
Asia  and  Africa,  and  to  successful  American  speculators, 
and  traders  in  pork  and  sewing-machines.  I  have  no 
doubt  that  there  are  persons  who  sincerely  believe  these 
things,  but  they  are  certainly  not  those  who  have  most 
vehemently  and  persistently  asserted  them — something 
much  easier  to  do  than  to  make  evident  to  the  world  the 
preeminent  excellence  and  unsullied  purity  of  political  and 
social  life  in  the  French  capital,  during  the  Monarchy 
and  under  the  third  Republic.  Indeed,  much  of  this  silly 
criticism  is  only  a  rehash  of  the  gossip  of  "  salons  "  that 
under  the  Empire  were  demodes  and  had  become  merely 
the  convenient  rendez-vous  of  literary  Bohemians,  eman- 
cipated women  and  politicians  out  of  business — in  short 
of  the  uncompromising  Opposition.  The  simple  truth  is 
that  if  foreigners  were  treated  with  especial  hospitality 
and  courtesy  at  the  Imperial  Court,  it  was  only  a  proper 
and  polite  recognition  of  the  homage  the  whole  world  was 
then  pleased  to  pay  to  France,  and  to  the  sovereigns  who 
represented  with  such  distinction  a  nation  which  under 
their  rule  had  gained  the  ascendency  it  lost  at  the  Res- 
toration and  had  become  once  more,  and  beyond  dispute, 
the  dominant  power  on  the  European  Continent. 

There  was  a  time  when  all  roads  led  to  Rome.     But 
when  Rome  ceased  to  be  the  Capital  of  the  world  and  be- 


THE    WAR    OF    THE    REBELLION         117 

came  the  capital  of  Italy  and  the  See  of  a  Bishop,  roads 
were  built  to  meet  the  requirements  of  the  multitude  of 
foreigners  who  preferred  to  travel  in  other  directions. 

If  there  is  no  longer  an  American  society  here,  if 
London  has  captured  it — in  part,  at  least — it  is  because 
Paris  is  now  socially  dead. 

The  lights  that  once  shone  here  have  been  extinguished, 
the  guests — the  entertained  as  well  as  the  entertainers — 
have  gone.  The  very  palace  even,  where  they  were  wont 
to  assemble,  has  been  destroyed  by  the  torch  of  the  incen- 
diary. The  chef  d'ceuvre  of  Philibert  Delorme  and  Jean 
Bullant,  with  its  majestic  pavilions,  its  noble  galleries  and 
salons,  with  all  their  rich  embellishments,  the  work  of 
three  hundred  years  of  the  genius  and  aesthetic  sentiment 
of  France ;  the  sculptures  and  paintings,  the  furniture  and 
the  tapestries,  the  polished  bronze  and  marble,  the  splen- 
did staircase — on  the  steps  of  which  at  either  side  the  cent 
gardes  stood  like  statues  on  State  occasions ;  and  the  mag- 
nificent Salle  des  Marechaux — where  the  great  ceremonies 
were  held — resplendent  with  mural  decorations  and  velvet 
draperies,  and  traceries  of  gold,  and  superb  chandeliers 
hanging  from  the  ceiling  like  vast  masses  of  jewels,  and 
adorned  with  the  portraits  and  busts  of  dead  heroes;  and 
the  brilliant  uniforms  and  elegant  toilettes,  and  the  music, 
and  the  flowers,  and  the  spectacular  effects  of  the  moving 
and  constantly  changing  scene,  which  opened  to  the  admi- 
ring eyes  of  the  throng  a  new  world  of  beauty  and  of 
grace — all  these  glories  and  these  pageants  have  vanished, 
and  the  world  now  knows  them,  and  will  know  them,  no 
more  forever — except  as  history  or  legend.  Sunt  lacrimal 
rerum. 

It  has  been  the  habit  of  Americans  to  say  of  Napoleon 
III.  that  he  was  not  friendly  to  our  Government  during 
the  War  of  the  Rebellion. 

At  the  beginning  of  this  war,  it  is  quite  certain  that 


118         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

nearly  everybody  in  Europe  felt  a  sympathy  for  the  South, 
for  it  seemed  to  be  the  weaker  party.  Sharing  this  general 
feeling,  the  Emperor  may  have  had,  moreover,  a  passing 
and  chivalric  sentiment  of  admiration  for  the  stubborn, 
plucky,  and  gallant  resistance  which  the  seceding  States 
offered  to  the  Federal  Government.  It  should  be  remem- 
bered also  that  a  very  considerable  part  of  the  territory  of 
the  Confederacy  once  belonged  to  France,  and  that  the 
largest  and  richest  city  of  the  South — New  Orleans — to 
great  numbers  of  Frenchmen  has  always  seemed  to  be  a 
city  of  their  own  people. 

Then,  again,  commercial  interests  were  deeply  con- 
cerned, and  became  more  and  more  so  as  the  war  went 
on.  National  industries  were  paralyzed  and  markets  lost. 
Thousands  of  working  men  were  idle.*  And  after  great 
battles  had  been  fought  that  decided  nothing,  and  appar- 
ently tended  to  no  definite  conclusion,  the  people,  more 
particularly  in  England  and  France,  began  to  grow  tired 
of  hearing  of  the  continued  slaughter  in  what,  to  them, 
seemed  to  be  an  interminable  war. 

The  French,  however,  were  less  interested  than  the 
English  in  the  final  issue  of  the  war ;  and  the  French  Press 
was  much  more  moderate  in  its  tone  than  the  English  Press, 
from  which,  however,  it  obtained  most  of  its  information 

*  A  bill  that  opened  a  credit  of  five  millions  of  francs  in  behalf  of 
the  working  men  in  the  manufacturing  districts  especially  affected  by 
the  American  war  was  passed  in  January,  1863,  by  the  unanimous 
consent  of  the  French  Assembly.  But  as  early  as  March,  1862,  the 
Emperor  had  sent  as  a  personal  gift  to  the  operatives — principally  in 
cotton-mills — now  out  of  work,  the  sum  of  250,000  francs.  "In  some 
departments  the  sufferings  of  these  men  were  very  severe.  In  that  of 
the  Seine  Infcrieure  the  number  of  laborers  who  were  thrown  out  of 
work  was  estimated  at  one  hundred  and  thirty  thousand.  Private 
charity  cooperated  with  the  Legislature,  and  on  January  26th  two 
million  francs  had  already  been  absorbed.  The  resignation  and  patriotic 
attitude  of  the  working  men  were  generally  commended;  and  on  May 
4th  the  Legislature  voted  a  new  credit  of  one  million  two  hundred 
thousand  francs  in  their  behalf." — American  Annual  Cyclopedia. 


THE    WAR    OF    THE    REBELLION         119 

and  misinformation  with  respect  to  American  affairs.  Few 
Americans  living,  in  the  present  era  of  good  feeling,  have 
any  adequate  idea  of  the  intense  hostility  exhibited  towards 
the  Government  of  President  Lincoln  in  English  official 
circles  and  in  the  British  Parliament,  not  by  the  Tory 
opposition  alone,  but  by  the  leading  representatives  of  the 
Liberal  Government  of  the  day — Gladstone,  Roebuck,  Lord 
Brougham — Blanche,  Tray,  and  Sweetheart — it  was  the 
same  cry:  "  Jefferson  Davis  has  created  a  new  nation  and 
the  Yankee  war  must  be  stopped. ' '  * 

The  Southern  Confederacy  was  ably  represented  in 
Europe ;  its  agents  were  numerous,  intelligent,  and  active. 
But  public  sympathy  was  of  little  practical  service  to 
their  cause;  what  they  wanted  to  secure  was  the  effective 
aid  of  the  European  governments — recognition,  at  least. 
In  France,  especially,  their  work  was  principally  within 
official  circles — although  unofficial.  Mr.  Slidell,  the  Com- 
missioner of  the  Confederate  Government,  unrecognized  at 
the  Ministry  for  Foreign  Affairs,  sought  to  confer  with 
other  members  of  the  Imperial  Government  and  directly 
with  the  Emperor  himself.  In  this  and  in  all  his  doings  he 
had  the  active  cooperation  of  large  numbers  of  Southern 
men  and  women  who  resided  in  Paris  during  the  war; 
and  the  Southern  ladies,  who  formed  a  brilliant  and  in- 
fluential societv,  vied  with  each  other  in  their  endeavors 
to  enlist  in  support  of  their  cause  every  one  connected 
with  the  Imperial  Court.  It  was  most  natural,  since  they 
were  pleading  for  their  homes  and  their  families.  Many 
of  them  had  fathers,  brothers,  husbands,  and  sons  fighting 
for  what  they  regarded  as  birthrights.  Their  zeal,  their 
strenuous  efforts,  and  continued  labor  were  not  in  vain,  for 
the  Court  was  almost  entirely  gained  over  to  their  side. 
The  consequence  was  that  the  Emperor  was  constantly 
surrounded  by  those  who  sympathized  with  the  South. 

*  See  Appendix  IV. 


120         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

I  regret  to  say  that  there  was  another  reason  for  this 
sympathy,  there  were  men  at  Court  holding  high  official 
positions  who  acted  entirely  from  motives  of  self-interest. 
There  were,  to  my  knowledge,  offers  of  large  quantities  of 
cotton  made  to  some  of  these  persons,  if  by  their  influence 
they  could  induce  the  Emperor  to  recognize  the  Southern 
Confederacy.  The  Emperor  was,  at  times,  absolutely 
beset  by  these  people.  According  to  them,  the  South  was 
sure  of  success,  and  the  inability  of  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment to  carry  on  the  war  much  longer  was  a  constant 
theme  with  them.  The  Emperor  listened  to  these  statements 
in  his  usual  quiet  way,  occasionally  smiling,  but  whether 
because  he  was  pleased  or  incredulous  was  never  known; 
for  he  was  never  betrayed  into  consenting  to  an  act  or 
giving  an  opinion  inconsistent  with  an  attitude  of  com- 
plete neutrality,  although  he  often  expressed  his  desire,  in 
the  interest  of  humanity,  to  see  the  war  brought  to  a  close, 
in  order  that  the  suffering  and  loss  of  life  necessarily 
caused  by  this  cruel  conflict  might  cease. 

But  when  the  real  causes  that  led  to  the  secession  of 
the  Southern  States  from  the  Federal  Union  began  to  be 
apparent,  and  it  became  clear  that  the  leaders  in  this  move- 
ment had  but  one  end  in  view,  namely,  the  creation  of  a 
powerful  Republic  for  the  perpetuation  of  human  slavery, 
it  grew  more  and  more  difficult  for  the  Emperor,  as  for 
many  others  who  could  not  fail  to  watch  this  great  strug- 
gle with  intense  interest,  to  reconcile  their  very  natural 
sympathies  for  the  weak  with  a  desire  for  the  triumph 
of  right  and  justice,  and  the  advancement  of  civilization 
and  happiness  among  men.  However  brilliantly  the  com- 
mercial benefits  to  Europe  of  a  great  cotton-growing,  free- 
trade  American  Republic  might  be  set  forth,  the  condition 
on  which  alone  they  could  be  obtained — a  sanction  for 
the  servitude  of  the  black  race — was  intolerable  to  the 
European  conscience.  No  man  understood  this  better  than 
Napoleon  III.     But  the  opinion  of  others  was  unnecessary 


THE    WAR    OF    THE    REBELLION         121 

in  this  case,  for  the  thought  of  servitude  was  always  re- 
pugnant to  him. 

While  a  prisoner  at  Ham  he  wrote:  "  To-day  the  object 
of  enlightened  governments  should  be  to  devote  their  efforts 
to  hasten  the  period  when  men  may  say,  '  The  triumph  of 
democratic  ideas  has  caused  the  extinction  of  pauperism; 
the  triumph  of  the  French  Revolution  has  put  an  end  to 
serfdom;  the  triumph  of  Christianity  has  destroyed  sla- 
very.' "  And  when  finally  he  became  Emperor,  he  did 
not  forget  his  words ;  for  the  single  object  of  his  own  life, 
constantly  in  mind  to  its  very  end,  was  to  see  these  ideas 
realized  in  history. 

I  had  personally  the  greatest  respect  for  the  American 
Minister  at  the  French  Court,  Mr.  William  M.  Dayton. 
He  was  an  able  lawyer,  a  most  honorable  and  upright  man, 
beloved  by  all  who  knew  him,  and  universally  esteemed. 
But  Mr.  Dayton  was  an  exceedingly  modest  man,  with  a 
fine  sense  of  the  dignity  of  his  office,  and  certainly  would 
not  have  considered  it  proper  that  he  should  attempt  to 
represent  the  United  States  before  the  French  Government 
in  any  other  than  a  strictly  diplomatic  way. 

As  a  simple  American  citizen,  I  was  free  from  all  offi- 
cial responsibility.  I  knew  that  I  could  be  of  great  service 
to  my  country,  and  whenever  I  felt  that  I  ought  to  act  or 
speak,  I  was  restrained  by  no  fear  of  being  too  intrusive  or 
too  strenuous.  At  the  beginning  of  the  war  the  Federal 
Government  was  unable  to  arm  the  soldiers  who  were  called 
out  by  the  President,  and  efforts  were  made  to  obtain  mili- 
tary supplies  in  Europe.  And  I  am  happy  to  say,  that  in 
my  capacity  of  private  citizen  I  was  able  to  obtain  from 
a  French  company  a  large  quantity  of  firearms  which  were 
sent  with  other  military  stores  to  the  United  States;  and 
— what  is  of  more  importance  in  this  connection — that  the 
transaction  was  effected  with  the  knowledge  and  permis- 
sion of  Napoleon  III. 


122         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

With  the  facilities  I  had  of  communicating  directly  with 
the  Emperor  and  coming  in  contact,  as  I  did  every  day,  with 
the  principal  personages  about  the  Court,  and  the  most  dis- 
tinguished men  in  the  Legislature,  the  Army,  the  Church, 
and  in  every  walk  of  life,  and  with  the  members  of  their 
families,  I  had  very  frequent  and  unusual  opportunities  of 
defending  the  cause  of  our  National  Government.  More- 
over, my  relations  with  my  compatriots,  my  presumed  ac- 
quaintance with  American  affairs,  the  deep  interest  I  took 
in  the  preservation  of  our  Union,  and  the  confidence  with 
which  I  predicted  it,  caused  me  and  my  opinions  to  be 
much  sought  after;  and  particularly  as  I,  excepting  per- 
haps Prince  Napoleon,  was  the  only  person  with  pronounced 
Northern  views  having  frequent  access  to  the  Emperor.  I 
firmly  believed  in  the  eventual  success  of  the  Federal  Gov- 
ernment, and,  being  almost  alone  in  that  belief,  I  was  com- 
pelled to  keep  myself  well  informed  with  respect  to  every- 
thing that  might  strengthen  it  and  furnish  me  with  facts 
and  arguments  to  support  and  add  weight  to  my  assertions. 
I  was  constantly  on  the  lookout  for  the  latest  news,  and 
took  special  pains  to  meet  and  converse  with  those  persons 
coming  from  America  who  could  give  me  information,  so 
that  I  might  communicate  it  to  the  Emperor,  who  was  never 
unwilling  to  hear  "  the  other  side."  It  was,  therefore, 
necessary  to  be  always  at  work  to  meet  the  statements,  and 
thwart  the  designs,  and  destroy  the  hopes  of  the  agents, 
accredited  or  unaccredited,  of  the  Confederate  Government, 
for  "  those  who  hear  only  one  bell  hear  only  one  sound." 
I  accordingly,  as  long  as  this  terrible  war  lasted,  continued 
to  do  what  in  ordinary  circumstances  is  either  not  done, 
or  is  effected  through  diplomatic  channels. 

I  always  let  Mr.  Dayton  know  that  I  was  keeping  the 
Emperor  informed  of  what  was  passing;  and  he  rendered 
me  all  the  assistance  he  could,  never  feeling  that  I  was  in 
any  way  interfering  with  his  duties  or  prerogatives.  A  more 
patriotic,  generous,  and  unselfish  man  could  not  be  found. 


THE    WAR    OF    THE    REBELLION        123 

I  particularly  endeavored  to  convey  to  the  mind  of  the 
Emperor  some  idea  of  the  fervent  patriotism,  the  indomi- 
table courage,  the  inexhaustible  patience,  and  the  undying 
devotion  to  their  cause,  of  the  men  of  the  North.  And  I 
never  lost  an  occasion  to  show  him  the  progress  we  had 
made,  or  to  call  his  attention  to  what  our  troops  were  doing. 
I  supplied  him  continually  with  documents  and  newspapers 
containing  important  information  relating  to  the  war,  and 
with  maps  that  would  aid  him  in  following  the  movements 
of  the  different  armies  in  the  field.  These  were  placed  in 
a  room  at  the  Tuileries  near  his  private  cabinet.  Here  he 
frequently  went  to  consult  the  maps,  and  to  mark,  with  pins 
to  which  little  flags  were  attached,  the  positions  of  the  op- 
posing armies.  At  times  he  was  greatly  interested  in  watch- 
ing the  movements  of  these  armies,  and  made  them  even  the 
subjects  of  critical  technical  study. 

Thus  he  was  able  to  estimate  the  value  of  the  assertions 
of  those  who  surrounded  him,  and  sought  to  bring  him  to 
the  point  of  acknowledging  the  Southern  Confederacy ;  and 
so  it  happened  that  when  they  felt  most  sure  of  accom- 
plishing their  purpose  they  found  him  to  be  immovable. 
His  reticence  puzzled  them.  And  yet,  sometimes,  he  sur- 
prised them  by  statements  showing  that  he  knew  more 
about  the  war,  and  its  probable  duration,  and  the  final 
result  than  they  had  imagined  possible.  On  one  occasion, 
that  came  within  my  knowledge,  to  a  person  who  had 
reported  to  him  a  great  Confederate  victory,  he  replied 
quietly,  but  with  a  most  crushing  effect: 

;  The  facts  are  quite  contrary  to  what  you  have  been 
telling  me." 

One  afternoon,  in  the  summer  of  1862,  while  driving  in 
the  Bois  de  Boulogne,  I  met  Mr.  N.  M.  Beckwith,  who 
informed  me  that  on  the  following  evening  Mr.  Roebuck 
was  to  make  a  statement  in  the  House  of  Commons  re- 
lating a  conversation  he  had  had  with  the  Emperor  at 


124         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

Fontainebleau  a  few  days  before ;  his  purpose  being  to  show 
that  in  this  interview  the  Emperor  had  given  him  assur- 
ances that  he  would  not  be  indisposed  to  intervene  in  behalf 
of  the  Southern  Confederacy  under  certain  conditions 
agreed  upon  with  the  English  Government. 

I  thought  over  the  matter  during  the  night,  and  came 
to  the  conclusion  that  if  the  Emperor  had  had  a  conversa- 
tion with  Mr.  Roebuck  it  had  not  been  of  such  a  nature 
as  to  authorize  him  to  announce,  or  even  to  attempt  to 
foreshadow,  in  Parliament  the  Imperial  policy  with  re- 
spect to  this  subject.  I  knew  Mr.  Roebuck  was  interested 
in  giving  the  conversation  such  a  color  that  it  would  seem, 
to  those  who  heard  him,  that  the  Emperor  had  decided  to 
join  with  England  in  this  much-desired  alliance  in  behalf 
of  the  Confederacy.  I  had,  however,  personal  knowledge 
of  the  views  entertained  by  the  Emperor,  and  was  confident 
that  he  had  no  such  intention,  but  was  determined  not  to 
recognize  the  Confederacy,  to  observe  the  strictest  neutral- 
ity, and  to  intervene  only  in  case  of  our  manifest  inability 
to  bring  the  war  to  an  end  ourselves.  To  such  a  strait  he 
did  not  believe  we  would  come.     And  it  was  for  this  reason 

t 

that  he  had  refused  all  the  entreaties,  not  only  of  English 
statesmen,  but  of  those  about  him,  of  some  of  his  own  min- 
isters, and  more  especially  of  M.  de  Persigny,  who  never 
lost  an  occasion  to  present  the  case  of  the  Confederates  as 
favorably  as  possible,  and  to  insist  on  the  utter  inability 
of  our  Government  to  put  down  the  rebellion.  Neverthe- 
less Mr.  Beckwith's  statement  was  so  precise  that  I  re- 
solved to  see  the  Emperor  and  ascertain  what  possible  foun- 
dation there  might  be  for  it. 

With  this  purpose  in  view  I  started  early  the  next  morn- 
ing for  Fontainebleau.  I  saw  the  Emperor  as  soon  as  he 
had  left  his  bed,  and  communicated  to  him  what  I  had 
learned  about  Mr.  Roebuck's  intention.  I  asked  him  if 
anything  in  the  conversation  he  had  had  with  that  very 
active  member  of  Parliament  could  be  construed  into  a 


THE    WAR    OF    THE    REBELLION        125 

promise  to  recognize  the  Southern  Confederacy  on  certain 
conditions ;  and  if  Mr.  Roebuck  had  his  permission  to  make 
an  announcement  to  that  effect  in  the  House  of  Commons. 
His  Majesty  most  unhesitatingly  denied  having  given  him 
any  assurances  or  promises  whatsoever.  The  conversation 
he  said  had  been  general  and  he  should  be  greatly  astonished 
if  Roebuck  were  so  to  report  the  conversation  that  it  could 
be  considered  as  containing  a  promise  or  pledge  on  his  part 
to  act  in  relation  to  the  matter  conjointly  with  the  British 
Government.  So  anxious  was  he  to  avoid  any  such  inter- 
pretation of  the  conversation,  that  he  decided,  at  my  sug- 
gestion, to  have  a  telegram  sent  to  a  member  of  Parliament, 
directing  him,  in  case  Mr.  Roebuck  should  make  such  a 
statement,  to  deny  immediately  that  there  had  been  any 
pledge  or  promise,  or  that  he  was  in  any  way  bound  by  the 
remarks  of  that  gentleman. 

This  was  done,  and  when  Mr.  Roebuck,  in  the  course  of 
a  speech,  referred  to  his  having  seen  the  Emperor  of  the 
French  at  Fontainebleau  a  few  days  before,  and  began  to 
report  the  conversation  which  had  taken  place  on  that  oc- 
casion, he  was  immediately  informed  that  a  telegram  had 
been  received  from  the  Emperor  stating  that  the  conver- 
sation had  been  entirely  private. 

Besides  the  influences  the  Emperor  was  continually 
under,  coming  from  his  entourage  and  from  interested  pri- 
vate individuals,  much  pressure  was  brought  to  bear  on  him 
from  several  foreign  governments — especially  the  English 
— to  induce  him  to  recognize  the  Southern  Confederacy. 
I  am  in  possession  of  positive  information  upon  this  sub- 
ject. I  have  seen  and  read,  and  have  had  in  my  hands, 
papers  sent  to  the  Emperor,  and  coming  from  the  English 
Foreign  Office,  in  which  it  was  proposed  that  France  should 
join  with  England  in  recognizing  the  Confederacy.  This 
is  at  variance  with  the  usually  received  impression.  It  is 
generally  believed  that  France  and  her  Government,  and 

the  Emperor  personally,  were  anxious  to  recognize  the  Con- 
10 


126         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

f ederaey ;  and  to  that  end  solicited  the  cooperation  of  Eng- 
land. I  insist  that  this  was  not  the  case,  and  that  the  con- 
trary was  true.  The  Emperor  never  came  at  any  time  to 
the  point  of  believing,  as  Palmerston  did,  that  it  was  best 
to  recognize  the  Southern  Confederacy.  After  some  of  the 
failures  and  defeats  of  our  army,  it  is  not  to  be  wondered 
at  if,  in  common  with  nearly  every  one  in  Europe,  he  had 
some  doubts  of  the  final  result. 

Those  were  dark  days  that  followed  the  failure  of  the 
Peninsular  campaign  and  the  battles  of  the  second  Bull 
Run.  Then  it  was  that  Gladstone  made  his  notorious 
speech  at  Newcastle,  and  that  even  the  friends  of  the 
Union  in  Europe  began  to  grow  faint-hearted.  It  was 
of  this  time  that  Lowell  spoke  when  he  said  of  Charles 
Francis  Adams,  "  None  of  our  generals  in  the  field,  not 
Grant  himself,  did  us  better  or  more  trying  service  than 
he  in  his  forlorn  outpost  in  London."  Then  it  was,  also, 
that  the  Emperor  expressed  the  opinion  that  perhaps  the 
Federal  Government  might  be  induced  to  accept  the 
friendly  mediation  of  England,  Russia,  and  France,  and 
consent  to  an  armistice;  and  if  so,  that  the  offer  of  such 
mediatory  services  was  desirable.  But  this  opinion  was 
suggested  by  humane  rather  than  by  political  considera- 
tions.*    At  the  outbreak  of  the  War  of  the  Rebellion,  the 

*  The  Emperor  in  his  address  to  the  Legislative  Body,  January  12, 
1863,  said: 

"The  situation  of  the  Empire  would  be  flourishing  had  not  the 
American  war  come  to  dry  up  one  of  the  most  fruitful  sources  of  our 
industry.  The  unnatural  stagnation  of  business  has  caused,  in  several 
places  a  state  of  destitution  which  is  worthy  of  our  solicitude,  and  an 
appropriation  will  be  asked  of  you  in  behalf  of  those  who  are  support- 
ing with  resignation  the  effect  of  a  calamity  which  it  is  not  in  our  power 
to  bring  to  an  end.  Nevertheless,  I  have  attempted  to  send  across  the 
Atlantic  counsels  inspired  by  the  sincerest  sympathy,  but  the  great 
maritime  Powers  not  having  as  yet  thought  it  proper  to  join  with  me,  I 
have  postponed  until  a  more  propitious  time  the  offer  of  mediation, 
the  object  of  which  was  to  arrest  the  effusion  of  blood  and  prevent  the 
exhaustion  of  a  country  whose  future  cannot  be  indifferent  to  us." 


THE    WAR    OF    THE    REBELLION        127 

relations  of  the  French  Government  with  the  Federal  Gov- 
ernment were  very  friendly.  Our  War  Department  ob- 
tained military  supplies  of  various  kinds  in  France  with- 
out difficulty ;  and  the  views  expressed  by  the  Emperor  in 
July,  1861,  with  respect  to  the  blockade  of  the  Southern 
coast,  were  entirely  satisfactory  to  Mr.  Lincoln.  It  was 
even  supposed,  so  marked  was  the  absence  in  France  of  the 
hostile  feeling  which  prevailed  in  England,  that,  under  cer- 
tain circumstances,  the  Imperial  Government  might  give 
direct  assistance  to  the  cause  of  the  Union.  Or  was  the 
suggestion  of  such  assistance  actually  made  to  Mr.  Lincoln 
and  Mr.  Seward  by  Prince  Napoleon  when  he  visited  Wash- 
ington in  the  summer  of  1861?  Whatever  answer  may  be 
given  to  this  question,  it  is  quite  certain  that  Mr.  Seward 
entertained  the  idea  of  the  friendly  neutrality  of  France 
at  the  time  of  the  Trent  affair ;  and,  if  it  was  among  the 
reasons  that  led  him  at  first  to  decline  to  surrender  the  Con- 
federate Commissioners,  it  was  also  because  of  the  very 
amicable  relations  between  the  French  Legation  and  the 
State  Department  that  Mr.  Seward  was  disposed  to  listen 
to  the  representations  on  this  subject  made  to  him  by  M. 
Mercier  at  the  request  of  M.  Thouvenel,  acting  at  the 
suggestion  of  the  Emperor.  Indeed,  it  was  because  the 
friendly  advice  given  on  this  occasion  had  proved  so  suc- 
cessful— had  apparently  prevented  a  disastrous  war 
between  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain — that  the 
Emperor  was  finally  induced  to  sound  the  English  and  Rus- 
sian governments  with  respect  to  the  expediency  of  offer- 
ing to  the  belligerents,  conjointly  with  the  Imperial  Gov- 
ernment, their  friendly  services  as  mediators. 

But  while  the  relations  between  France  and  the  United 
States  were  constantly  maintained  upon  an  amicable  foot- 
ing until  near  the  end  of  the  secession  war,  the  relations 
between  the  English  and  the  French  governments  during 
the  same  period,  if  not  strained — in  the  diplomatic  sense 
of  that  word — were  certainly  very  far  from  being  cordial. 


128         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

Not  only  was  the  hostility  then  shown  by  Lords  Palmerston 
and  Russell  to  the  policy  of  the  Empire,  with  respect  to 
nearly  every  question  concerning  European  politics,  a  cause 
of  almost  constant  irritation,  but  the  abusive  language 
employed  by  the  Press  and  by  individuals,  who  were  pre- 
sumed to  represent  the  English  Government,  when  speak- 
ing of  Napoleon  III. — language  which  often  exceeded  in 
bitterness  that  with  which  Mr.  Lincoln  was  bespattered 
by  the  same  Press  and  the  same  persons — was  keenly  felt 
by  the  Emperor,  and  was  frequently  the  subject  of  his 
indignant  remonstrance.  The  Emperor,  when  his  co- 
operation was  desired  by  the  English  Government  contem- 
plating an  intervention  in  American  affairs,  was  in  no 
humor  to  listen  to  the  solicitations  of  the  men  who  were  re- 
sponsible for  that  Government,  and  were,  at  the  same  time, 
his  personal  enemies  and  the  friends  of  his  political  enemies. 
The  Emperor  never  wholly  gave  up  the  thought  that  ulti- 
mately the  North  would  succeed.  In  his  opinion  it  would 
be  a  misfortune  for  the  country  to  be  divided.  In  fact,  a 
division  of  the  United  States  into  separate  and  independent 
Governments  would  have  been  in  conflict  with  the  principle 
of  "  great  agglomerations,"  of  "  nationalities  and  natural 
boundaries,"  which  was  the  foundation  of  his  theory  of 
international  relations.  It  would  not  only  have  been  con- 
trary to  his  general  political  policy,  but  it  would  have  been 
unnatural  for  him  to  wish  to  see  our  Union  dismembered. 
No.     That  was  never  his  wish. 

I  could  furnish,  were  it  necessary  to  do  so,  innumerable 
proofs  to  sustain  these  affirmations.  I  will  here  state  what 
took  place  one  day  in  the  summer  of  1864,  as  also  its  con- 
sequence— an  episode  that  brings  to  my  mind  delightful 
reminiscences  of  men  now  and  forevermore  famous  in  our 
national  history. 

I  was  sent  for  by  the  Emperor  to  come  to  Compiegne. 
This  was  just  after  the  great  battles  of  the  Wilderness  and 


THE    WAR    OF    THE    REBELLION         129 

the  failure  of  Grant's  first  movement  against  Richmond; 
when  Early's  army  was  in  sight  of  the  Capitol,  and  news 
of  the  capture  of  Washington  was  expected  at  any  moment. 
His  Majesty  informed  me  that  he  had  received  a  commu- 
nication from  London,  in  which  he  was  seriously  advised, 
urged,  and  even  begged  to  recognize  the  Southern  Confed- 
eracy. 

The  substance  of  the  note  was  to  this  effect:  "  The 
Washington  Government  have  no  chance  of  getting  through 
with  this  cruel  war.  It  is  now  time  it  should  cease,  and 
a  stop  should  be  put  to  it."  And  the  Emperor  was  told 
that  if  he  would  take  the  initiative  in  the  work  of  ending 
this  war,  public  opinion  in  England  would  force  the  Gov- 
ernment to  cooperate  with  him. 

"  You  see  how  hard  I  am  pressed,"  the  Emperor  said, 

'  yet  I  have  not  yielded,  because  of  the  assurances  I  have 

received — and  from  you  among  others — that  it  is  only  a 

question  of  time  when  the  war  must  end  in  the  complete 

success  of  the  Federal  Government." 

I  told  him  the  war  was  certainly  approaching  an  end; 
that  the  resources  of  the  South  were  almost  exhausted ;  that, 
with  nearly  a  million  seasoned  soldiers  in  the  field,  the  mili- 
tary power  of  the  North  was  irresistible.  So  I  pleaded  for 
hands  off;  and  pleading  with  the  Emperor  not  to  yield  to 
the  pressure  of  private  interest,  nor  to  be  influenced  by 
communications  of  the  kind  he  had  just  received,  but  to 
await  events,  I  became  warm  and  was  quite  carried  away 
by  my  subject.  I  told  him  that  the  recognition  of  the 
Confederacy  would  only  cause  much  more  blood  to  flow; 
that  foreign  intervention  would  be  useless ;  that  the  people 
of  the  North  would  never  permit  any  intervention  from 
abroad  in  their  affairs — no  matter  what  sacrifices  it  might 
be  necessary  to  make,  either  of  money  or  of  men. 

Just  at  this  moment  a  door,  which  was  hidden  with  up- 
holstery so  as  to  be  invisible,  opened  as  if  by  magic,  and  the 
Prince  Imperial,  then  a  beautiful  boy  of  eight  years,  ap- 


130         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

peared  before  us  in  a  most  charming  and  surprised  manner 
— as  he  did  not  know  that  any  one  was  in  the  private  room 
of  his  father.  He  had  thought  him  alone,  and  began  to 
apologize  for  his  intrusion. 

But  it  furnished  the  occasion  and  gave  me  the  courage 
to  say:  "  Sire,  you  cannot  think  of  recognizing  the  Gov- 
ernment of  Jefferson  Davis ;  for  the  dismemberment  of  our 
great  Union  founded  by  Washington  would  be  a  crime. 
No!  Were  it  done  by  your  aid,  the  States  of  the  North 
would  never  forget  you  nor  cease  to  curse  your  name.  For 
this  boy's  sake  you  cannot  act.  He  is  to  succeed  you,  and 
the  people  of  my  country  would  visit  it  upon  his  head,  if 
you  had  helped  to  destroy  our  great  and  happy  Union. 

"  You  cannot  think  of  the  miseries  it  would  entail. 
You  cannot  think  of  doing  this.  Keep  our  friendship — our 
ancient  friendship  that  was  sealed  with  the  blood  of  France 
— for  your  son."  Continuing,  I  said,  "  I  will  go  to  the 
United  States.  I  will  leave  by  the  very  first  steamer,  and 
learn  for  myself  what  the  situation  is — what  is  the  feeling 
of  the  people,  and  what  is  the  power  of  the  Government.  I 
will  go  directly  to  Washington  and  see  Mr.  Lincoln  and  Mr. 
Seward,  and  I  will  report  to  you  the  exact  truth,  whether 
they  believe  and  have  reason  to  believe  that  the  end  of  the 
war  is  not  far  off."  And  I  entreated  his  Majesty  to  sus- 
pend all  action  until  I  could  report  to  him  what  I  might 
learn  about  the  war  by  personal  observation  and  inquiry. 

The  Emperor,  who  had  listened  to  me  without  saying  a 
word,  when  I  had  finished  speaking  said,  ' '  Well,  Evans, 
go !  I  shall  be  pleased  to  hear  from  you  and  to  get  your 
impressions  and  opinions,  and  " — smiling  as  he  spoke—"  I 
don't  think  I  shall  recognize  the  Southern  Confederacy 
until  you  have  had  an  opportunity  of  communicating  to 
me  the  results  of  your  visit." 

Accordingly  I  left  Paris,  with  Mrs.  Evans,  on  the  11th 
of  August,  for  Liverpool,  where  the  following  Saturday 


THE    WAR    OF    THE    REBELLION        131 

we  embarked  on  the  China  for  New  York,  which  port  we 
reached  ten  days  later — August  23d. 

After  a  brief  visit  to  my  family  I  proceeded  to  the 
Capital,  where  I  was  received  by  Mr.  Seward,  Secretary 
of  State.  I  told  him  the  object  of  my  visit  was  to  learn 
the  true  state  of  affairs  with  respect  to  the  rebellion,  and 
whether  there  was  any  prospect  of  a  speedy  termination 
of  the  war.  I  was  astonished  to  find  Mr.  Seward  rather 
gloomy  and  dispirited.  He  said  things  looked  bad.  I  was 
introduced  to  other  members  of  the  Cabinet,  and  found 
that  they  also  were  feeling  very  uneasy.  I  was  the  more 
surprised  at  this  feeling,  as  the  fall  of  Atlanta  had  just 
been  announced. 

It  was  not,  however,  so  much  the  military  situation  as 
the  political  outlook  that  was  troubling  them.  A  Presi- 
dential election  was  to  take  place  in  November.  The 
Democratic  party  had  pronounced  the  war  to  be  a  failure ; 
and,  with  this  as  the  issue  before  the  people,  had  nomi- 
nated General  McClellan  as  their  candidate  for  the  Presi- 
dency. Mr.  Lincoln  was  again  the  candidate  of  the  Repub- 
lican party  for  that  office;  but  his  reelection  was  by  no 
means  certain,  and  his  defeat  would  have  been  disastrous 
to  the  cause  of  the  Union. 

I  was  received  afterward  by  President  Lincoln,  whom 
I  had  met  at  his  home  some  years  before — having  been 
introduced  to  him  at  Springfield,  in  the  year  1860,  before 
he  was  elected  President,  but  after  his  nomination.  Re- 
membering my  former  visit  to  him,  he  greeted  me  with 
much  affability  and  spoke  of  that  meeting,  and  of  persons 
both  of  us  knew.  When  I  told  him  what  I  had  come  to 
America  for,  he  seemed  much  pleased,  and  said  I  would  be 
given  every  opportunity  to  see  for  myself,  and  would  be 
supplied  with  all  possible  information  concerning  the 
situation. 

I  informed  the  President  of  my  efforts  to  convince  the 
Emperor  that  the  North   would   succeed   in   suppressing 


132         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

the  Rebellion ;  and  related  to  him  how  his  Majesty  was 
pressed  on  every  side  to  acknowledge  the  Southern  Con- 
federacy, ho,v  I  had  told  him  that  such  recognition  could 
only  lead  to  complications  which  might  prove  disastrous, 
and  that  I  had  entreated  him  to  suspend  any  action  in  this 
direction  until  I  could  lay  before  him  the  facts  as  they 
appeared  to  Americans  who  were  on  the  ground,  and  were 
most  familiar  with  the  conditions  of  the  contest,  and  most 
competent  to  forecast  its  result. 

I  had  a  long  conversation  with  Mr.  Lincoln  on  this 
occasion;  but  before  the  interview  ended  Mr.  Seward 
joined  us,  and  I  was  furnished  by  these  eminent  men  with 
information  that  gave  me  a  very  clear  insight  into  the 
situation  from  the  official  or  governmental  point  of  view. 
Mr.  Lincoln  was  in  much  the  better  spirits  and  the  more 
sanguine — summing  up  his  forecast  of  coming  events  in 
his  homely  way  as  follows:  "  "Well,  I  guess  we  shall  be 
able  to  pull  through;  it  may  take  some  time.  But  we 
shall  succeed,  /  think, ' '  with  an  emphasis  on  the  last  words 
that  was  significant. 

It  was  then  proposed  that  I  should  go  to  City  Point 
and  see  General  Grant.  It  was  thought  that  a  visit  to 
the  head-quarters  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  then  engaged 
in  siege  operations  in  front  of  Petersburg  and  Richmond, 
might  supply  me  with  some  of  the  special  facts  I  was  in 
search  of,  and  prove  an  object-lesson  of  great  value  to  me 
in  the  accomplishment  of  my  mission. 

Arrangements  were  accordingly  made  for  me  to  go  to 
City  Point  on  a  "  transport,"  the  only  means  of  convey- 
ance that  could  be  had.  And  so,  after  having  been  pro- 
vided with  letters  of  introduction  and  the  necessary  passes, 
on  the  morning  of  the  4th  of  September,  accompanied 
by  Mrs.  Evans,  my  niece,  and  her  husband,  I  sailed  for 
Hampton  Roads.  The  great  heat  compelled  us  to  remain 
on  deck;  the  boat  was  crowded  with  troops  going  to  the 


THE    WAR    OF    THE    REBELLION         133 

front;  and  the  mosquitoes,  the  noise  and  the  confusion, 
and  the  want  of  beds  made  the  night  one  of  the  most 
disagreeable  I  ever  experienced. 

Arriving  at  Norfolk  the  next  morning,  I  saw  for  the 
first  time  the  ruin  and  desolation  wrought  by  the  war. 
The  town  was  full  of  soldiers  and  "  contrabands,"  and 
nothing  was  going  on  but  what  related  in  some  way  to 
the  war.  Finding  that  I  should  be  obliged  to  leave  Mrs. 
Evans  and  my  niece  in  this  place,  I  obtained  for  them, 
after  much  searching,  lodgings  with  a  private  family. 
The  food  was  coarse  and  badly  cooked,  and  my  wife  and 
niece  occupied  a  room  in  the  garret  that  during  the  day 
was  intolerably  hot,  and  where,  at  night,  they  were  nearly 
suffocated.  This  I  learned  afterward ;  for  before  noon  I 
left  Norfolk  and,  taking  a  boat  at  Fortress  Monroe,  arrived 
at  General  Grant's  headquarters  in  the  evening  of  the 
same  day. 

The  General  received  me  in  a  simple,  off-hand  way; 
invited  me  to  dine  with  him;  and  made  me  as  comfort- 
able as  could  be  expected  in  time  of  war  and  in  camp. 
I  explained  the  object  of  my  mission,  and  he  seemed 
pleased  that  I  had  come  to  see  him  and  learn  for  myself 
how  things  were  going  on.  I  found  the  General  delight- 
ful in  conversation.  As  he  was  much  occupied  during  the 
day,  our  talks  were  principally  in  the  evening — after  his 
colored  boy  had  made  up  a  large  fire  in  front  of  his  tent; 
for  although  the  days  were  hot,  the  evenings  were  cool  and 
damp,  and  the  fire  kept  off  the  mosquitoes.  Then  it  was 
that  the  General  took  his  seat  in  a  camp-chair  before  the 
burning  logs,  with  his  staff  about  him,  and  also  his  visi- 
tors, of  whom  there  were  almost  always  a  number  at  head- 
quarters. Throwing  his  leg  over  the  arm  of  his  chair, 
after  having  lighted  a  cigar,  the  General  was  ready  for 
a  talk. 

We  discussed  not  only  questions  relating  to  the  war, 
but  all  sorts  of  subjects,  political,  social,  and  personal.     I 


134         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

was  astonished  to  find  the  commander  of  so  large  an  army, 
who  had  already  shown  extraordinary  talent  and  had 
gained  great  victories,  was  one  of  the  most  simple-minded  of 
men.  Of  what  was  passing  in  Europe  and  in  other  parts 
of  the  world  he  was  almost  utterly  ignorant.  Concerning 
the  French  Empire,  its  government,  and  its  economical 
and  social  life,  he  had  not  the  slightest  idea.  But  he  never 
seemed  tired  of  hearing  about  the  Emperor  and  the  Court. 
The  Empress,  her  beauty,  and  her  never-failing  kindness 
to  Americans  interested  him  greatly ;  and  it  delighted  him 
to  have  me  dwell  upon  the  attractions  and  pleasures  of 
Paris.  On  one  occasion  he  remarked :  ' '  When  I  have  got 
through  with  this  war  that  we  have  on  hand,  I  hope  to 
go  abroad  and  see  for  myself  all  these  beautiful  things. 
I  shall  want  rest;  my  only  fear  is  that  I  cannot  afford  it, 
for  I  am  not  rich,  and  I  am  afraid  I  shall  be  obliged  to 
wait  a  long  time  before  I  can  go  over  to  see  you,  and  enjoy 
all  these  things  we  have  spoken  about." 

I  replied :  ' '  Why,  General,  when  you  have  finished  the 
war,  as  you  seem  to  be  sure  you  will,  to  the  satisfaction 
of  your  country  and  -the  Government  that  placed  you  in 
command,  the  people  will  put  you  up  for  President;  and, 
if  so,  I  have  no  doubt  you  will  be  elected. ' ' 

Seeming  to  hesitate  for  a  moment,  he  said:  "  This  I 
doubt,  and  shall  never  consent  to.  I  may  be  successful 
as  a  military  man,  but  I  know  nothing  of  politics.  I  never 
voted  but  once  in  my  life,  and  then  I  made  a  mistake.  I 
never  interested  myself  in  politics.  Once  when  I  was 
going  home,  after  taking  a  load  of  wood  into  town,  my 
friends  met  me  and  insisted  that  I  should  vote,  as  it  was 
election  day.  I  was  persuaded  to  do  so,  and  threw  my  vote 
for  Mr.  Buchanan;  and  that,  as  you  see,  was  a  mistake." 

"  But,  General,  other  men  have  risen  to  the  Presidency, 
having  had  no  more  experience  in  political  matters  than 
yourself.  Each  of  our  wars  has  produced  a  President — 
Washington,  Jackson,  Taylor " 


THE    WAR    OF    THE    REBELLION        135 

"  No,"  he  replied,  "  I  had  rather  go  abroad  and  see 
something  of  the  Old  World." 

He  was  very  positive  about  the  final  result  of  the  war. 
He  was  frank  and  unreserved  in  giving  his  opinions,  and 
freely  expressed  to  me  his  hopes.  He  impressed  me  with 
his  sincerity,  his  simplicity,  and  at  the  same  time  his  en- 
tire confidence  in  himself.  On  my  asking  him  when  he 
thought  the  war  would  be  brought  to  a  close,  he  said : 
"  Not  until  we  get  rid  of  some  of  these  political  generals. 
It  is  these  men  who  have  kept  us  so  long  from  putting  an 
end  to  the  war." 

During  my  visit  he  had  long  interviews  with  General 
Butler.  He  criticized  the  works  at  Bermuda  Hundred  as 
designed  and  carried  on  by  General  Butler;  and  made  no 
secret  of  his  dissatisfaction  with  much  that  was  done  by 
political  generals,  as  he  called  them. 

One  day,  when  General  Butler  was  dining  with  us, 
General  Grant  inquired  of  him  what  he  was  doing  over 
at  Bermuda  Hundred;  he  asked  him  about  the  canal  he 
was  cutting,  and  many  other  questions  concerning  what 
was  passing  at  his  head-quarters.  General  Butler  invited 
him  to  come  over  and  see  for  himself.  Accordingly,  the 
next  day,  General  Grant,  with  his  staff,  set  out  to  visit 
the  camps  around  Richmond,  and  he  invited  me  to  accom- 
pany him.  The  General  rode  a  big  bay  horse,  and  he 
offered  me  for  this  excursion  the  black  mare  that,  as  he 
told  me,  he  had  taken  from  the  farm  of  Jefferson  Davis 
in  Mississippi,  after  the  surrender  of  Vicksburg.  A  very 
excellent  riding  horse  she  was,  and  the  General  set  much 
store  by  her.  I  was  afterward  told  that  it  was  a  great 
favor  for  him  to  lend  this  mare  to  any  one. 

We  visited  Generals  Meade,  Hancock,  Butler,  and 
others,  riding  along  almost  in  sight  of  the  city.  We  were 
so  near  that  we  could  see  the  Confederate  pickets,  some 
of  whom  were  reading  newspapers ;  and  occasionally  a  shot 
came  hurtling  over  our  heads.     The  General  never  seemed 


136         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

to  think  his  life  was  in  danger.  While  visiting  the  works 
that  had  been  constructed  by  order  of  General  Butler,  he 
looked  from  behind  the  earthen  defenses,  and  at  times 
exposed  himself  so  much,  that  his  officers  called  his  atten- 
tion to  the  risk  he  was  running.  Yet  he  was  not  a  fool- 
hardy man. 

We  dined  at  the  camp  or  head-quarters  of  General  Han- 
cock, and  I  was  much  impressed  with  the  military  bearing 
of  the  General. 

While  I  was  at  City  Point,  General  Grant  had  a  visit 
from  some  old  friends  of  his.  Among  them  was  Mr.  Wash- 
burne,  afterward  Minister  to  Paris.  The  General  told  us 
that  he  was  having  a  correspondence  with  General  Sherman 
concerning  a  movement  he  was  about  to  make ;  and  I  believe 
I  was  one  of  the  first  persons  who  knew  something  of  the 
plan  of  campaign  agreed  upon.*     This  march  to  the  sea, 

*  Dr.  Evans  is  in  error  here.  And  yet  his  statement  is  interesting- 
It  goes  to  show  that  the  idea  which  finally  found  its  realization  in  the 
"march  to  the  sea  "  was  in  the  air,  so  to  speak,  at  the  time  of  his  visit 
to  the  head-quarters  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  It  was  about  this 
time  that  General  Grant  wrote  to  Mr.  Lincoln  and  pointed  out  the  im- 
portance of  getting  behind  or  "south  of  the  enemy."  It  was  then  also 
that  he  sent  to  Atlanta  an  aide-de-camp,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Porter  (now 
General  Horace  Porter),  with  a  letter  and  instructions  to  confer  with 
General  Sherman,  and  arrange,  if  possible,  for  a  combined  movement. 
But,  in  fact,  it  was  as  late  as  October  9th  before  Sherman  seems  to  have 
seriously  thought  it  would  be  possible — as  he  then  wrote— "to  move 
through  Georgia  smashing  things,  to  the  sea";  or  to  say,  "I  can  make 
this  march  and  make  Georgia  howl."  And  this  opinion  was  expressed 
only  after  Hood  had  moved  from  Sherman's  front,  and  had  occupied  or 
threatened  his  line  of  communications  with  Chattanooga.  Grant, 
at  this  time,  while  most  anxious  to  get  "  behind  the  army  of  Northern 
Virginia,"  had  doubts  about  making  Savannah  the  objective  point  of 
the  movement,  and  particularly  about  cutting  loose  entirely  from 
Atlanta.  As  late  as  November  1st,  he  said  in  a  despatch  to  Sherman — 
"If  you  see  a  chance  of  destroying  Hood's  army,  attend  to  that  first, 
and  make  your  other  move  secondary."  The  very  next  day,  however, 
General  Grant  consented  that  Sherman  should  carry  out  his  plan  of 
campaign  as  he  had  proposed;  and  a  fortnight  later,  on  the  15th  of 


THE    WAR    OF    THE    REBELLION        137 

the  getting  behind  the  army  of  Northern  Virginia,  seemed 
to  Grant  the  one  thing  that  was  needed  to  bring  about  the 
end;  and  he  was  right  in  believing  it  to  be  so.  For,  as 
every  one  knows,  Lee's  army  was  finally  crushed  between 
the  columns  of  Sherman  and  Grant. 

During  my  visit  to  City  Point  I  had  an  excellent  oppor- 
tunity of  becoming  acquainted  with  many  things  connected 
with  the  maintenance  of  a  great  army  engaged  in  actual 
warfare,  such  as  the  commissariat,  the  transport  service, 
and  the  provisions  made  for  the  care  of  the  sick  and 
wounded.  This  last  subject  was  one  that  interested  me 
particularly. 

After  remaining  at  General  Grant's  head-quarters  five 
days,  I  rejoined  Mrs.  Evans  at  Norfolk,  and  we  returned 
to  Washington.  It  was  not  long  before  I  discovered  the 
existence  of  a  more  hopeful  feeling,  not  only  among  those 
who  directly  represented  the  Government,  but  generally 
among  the  people.  The  capture  of  Atlanta,  by  Sherman, 
the  final  destruction  of  Early's  army  by  Sheridan  in  the 
valley  of  the  Shenandoah,  the  evident  collapse  of  the  politi- 
cal plot  to  put  McClellan  in  the  place  of  Lincoln,  these 
things  encouraged  the  Government  greatly,  and  filled  the 
minds  of  the  loyal  men  of  the  North  with  hope  and  confi- 
dence— a  confidence  that  was  contagious. 

Very  soon  feeling,  myself,  entirely  convinced  that  the 

November,  General  Sherman  began  his  famous  march  through  Georgia 
from  Atlanta  to  the  sea. 

Our  recollections  of  events  after  the  lapse  of  many  years,  if  some- 
times at  fault  in  matters  of  detail,  often  bring  back  into  the  light 
important  facts  that  have  grown  dim  with  time  or  have  vanished 
altogether  from  the  record.  Every  act  of  man  must  exist  as  an  idea 
before  it  can  exist  as  a  reality.  To  crush  the  military  power  of  the 
Confederacy  between  the  two  armies  of  Sherman  and  Grant  was  the 
subject  on  which  the  hopes  and  the  thoughts  of  the  North  were  concen- 
trated in  the  autumn  of  1864.  Hood's  blunder  opened  the  way  and 
made  it  possible  for  General  Sherman  to  realize  his  dream  and  to  turn 
the  talk  of  the  camp-fires  into  one  of  the  most  decisive  deeds  in  Ameri- 
can history. 


138         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

end  of  the  war  was  not  far  distant,  I  so  informed  the  Em- 
peror. 

Upon  my  return  to  Paris  in  November,  one  of  the  first 
remarks  he  made  to  me  was :  ' '  When  the  plan  of  campaign 
arranged  between  Grant  and  Sherman  was  reported  to  me, 
I  saw  by  my  maps  that  it  was  the  beginning  of  the  end 
(ce  fut  le  commencement  de  la  fin)."  These  were  the  Em- 
peror's very  words. 

How  often  I  have  heard  him  express  himself  as  more 
than  satisfied  that  he  had  waited  and  not  acted  precipitately 
during  our  great  internecine  war;  for  to  him  the  friend- 
ship of  the  whole  United  States  was  important.  Yet  he 
has  suffered  severely  in  American  opinion  through  those 
who  believed  and  gave  currency  to  the  false  statement  that 
he  wished  to  divide  us,  and  to  that  end  had  solicited  the 
cooperation  of  the  English  Government. 

Americans  would  do  well  to  remember  that  if  the  Eng- 
lish Government,  represented  by  Lord  Palmerston  and  Lord 
John  Russell,  did  not  intervene  during  the  "War  of  the  Re- 
bellion, the  principal  cause  was  the  personal  reluctance  of 
the  Queen  and  the  Prince  Consort  to  give  countenance  to 
such  a  policy.  I  do  not  know  that  there  exists  any  official 
proof  of  this.  But  that  the  neutrality  of  the  English  Gov- 
ernment at  this  time  should  be  attributed  to  the  friendly 
feeling  of  the  Queen  towards  the  cause  for  which  the  North- 
ern States  were  contending,  has  always  been  firmly  believed 
by  the  American  people. 

Now  there  can  be  no  question  that  M.  Thouvenel  and 
M.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys  and  other  official  representatives  of 
the  Imperial  Government  were  as  ready  to  intervene  in 
behalf  of  the  Southern  Confederacy  as  were  Lord  John 
Russell  and  his  associates.  But  the  Imperial  Government 
did  not  take  one  single  step  in  that  direction.  It  did  not 
recognize  the  de  facto  government  established  at  Richmond. 
And  to  the  question,  Why  not"  the  answer  is  to  be  found 
in  the  fact — for  the  truth  of  which  I  can  vouch — that,  per- 


THE    WAR    OF    THE    REBELLION         139 

sonally,  Napoleon  III.  shrank,  as  did  Queen  Victoria,  from 
the  thought  of  actively  contributing  to  the  building  of  a 
great  State  whose  corner-stone  was  human  slavery.  Any 
one  who  knows  anything  of  the  Emperor  or  of  his  opinions 
knows  that  he  was  seldom  in  accord  with  his  ministers  on 
questions  relating  to  international  affairs.  This,  it  may  be 
said,  was  one  of  the  causes  of  the  apparently  uncertain  and 
indecisive  character  of  the  Imperial  policy ;  for  there  were 
times  when,  after  his  Minister  .for  Foreign  Affairs  had  said 
one  thing,  the  Emperor  did  not  hesitate  to  say  exactly  the 
contrary.  Therefore,  no  one  need  be  surprised  that,  what- 
ever may  have  been  the  wishes  of  his  ministers  with  respect 
to  the  Southern  Confederacy,  Napoleon  III.  should  never 
have  ceased  to  be  at  heart  a  friend  of  the  North. 

Those  persons  who,  careless  of  the  facts,  are  in  the  habit 
of  meting  out  responsibility  in  accordance  with  their  prej- 
udices and  political  feelings,  and  who  are  guilty  of  the 
gross  injustice  of  holding  Napoleon  III.  directly  responsible 
for  public  opinion  in  France  during  these  years,  should  at 
least  be  sufficiently  open-minded  to  observe  that  this  opin- 
ion was  never  exhibited  in  any  act  of  hostility  to  the  Fed- 
eral Government,  either  on  the  land  or  on  the  sea.  If  the 
neutrality  of  the  English  Government  is  generously  attrib- 
uted to  the  personal  influence  of  the  Queen,  it  is  but  fair 
to  give  some  credit  to  the  Emperor  for  the  neutrality  of 
his  Government  during  our  Civil  War — a  neutrality  so 
strictly  observed  that  no  Alabamas  were  allowed  to  escape 
from  French  ports  to  destroy  our  commerce. 

And  yet  in  these  later  years  I  have  often  wondered  that 
the  Emperor  did  not  recognize  the  Southern  Confederacy. 
It  would  have  been  entirely  in  accordance  with  our  own 
international  policy,  which  has  been,  and  is,  to  recognize 
every  de  facto  Government  without  regard  to  its  origin, 
and  without  waiting  to  become  assured  of  its  stability. 
Within  forty-eight  hours  after  the  Paris  mob  had  set  up  a 
Government  at  the  Hotel  de  Ville,  this  Government  was 


140         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

officially  recognized  by  Mr.  Washburne,  the  American  Min- 
ister accredited  to  the  Court  of  the  Tuileries. 

If  there  be  any  Americans  who  are  still  inclined  to 
resent  the  attitude  they  believe  Napoleon  III.  to  have  as- 
sumed toward  our  country  during  the  "War  of  the  Seces- 
sion, it  is  well  that  they  should  be  reminded  of  our  own 
public  policy  in  similar  cases;  and  more  than  this,  if  they 
would  be  just,  that  they  should  consider  how  much — and 
to  his  everlasting  credit — the  Emperor  resisted  when  de- 
clining to  recognize  the  Southern  Confederacy.  No  real 
friend  of  the  Federal  Government  could  have  been  expected 
to  do  more.* 

I  have  not  here  to  speak  of  the  attempt  to  establish 
an  empire  in  Mexico,  nor  yet  to  be  its  apologist.  This 
unfortunate  affair  into  which  the  Emperor  allowed  himself 
to  be  drawn,  partly  by  unwise  friends  and  partly  by  inter- 
ested counselors,  went  far  to  give  Americans  the  right  to 
believe  that  he  bore  us  no  good-will.  It  may  be  well,  how- 
ever, before  pronouncing  a  harsh  judgment,  to  remember 
the  condition  of  Mexico,  suffering  from  chronic  revolution, 
repudiating  its  debts  and  international  obligations,  and,  at 
the  time,  in  a  state  of  absolute  anarchy.  Many  European 
Powers  hoped  to  see  a  responsible,  stable  Government  es- 
tablished under  Maximilian.  The  Emperor's  motives  were 
good  and  his  action  well  meant ;  only  he  did  not  sufficiently 
take  into  account  the  very  great  difficulties  that  would  have 
to  be  met  and  overcome  at  home,  as  well  as  abroad,  in  order 
to  succeed  in  an  attempt  to  create  a  new  empire  on  the 
American  continent. 

*  In  a  private  letter  written  to  General  James  Watson  Webb  in 
March,  1863,  when  referring  to  this  war,  the  Emperor  says:  "As 
regards  the  war  which  desolates  your  country,  I  profoundly  regret  it;  for 
I  do  not  see  how  and  when  it  will  end,  and  it  is  not  to  the  interest  of 
France  that  the  United  States  should  be  weakened  by  a  struggle  with- 
out any  good  results  possible.  In  a  country  as  sensible  as  America, 
it  is  not  by  arms  that  domestic  quarrels  should  be  settled,  but  by  votes, 
meetings,  and  assemblies." 


THE    WAR    OF    THE    REBELLION         141 

The  Emperor  was  deeply  moved  by  the  news  of  the 
assassination  of  President  Lincoln  and  Mr.  Seward — for  it 
was  at  first  reported  that  Mr.  Seward  had  been  killed  also. 
He  was,  however,  not  inclined  to  attribute  to  this  act  any 
political  significance.  "  The  war  ended,"  he  said,  "  with 
the  capitulation  of  General  Lee,  and  the  act,  consequently, 
having  no  rational  purpose,  must  be  regarded  as  that  of  a 
political  fanatic.  Such  men  are  to  be  found  in  all  countries 
and  as  ready  to  strike  at  those  who  represent  the  sovereignty 
of  the  people  as  at  those  who  claim  to  rule  by  Divine  right. ' ' 
The  Empress,  also,  was  greatly  shocked  when  she  was  in- 
formed of  this  dreadful  affair,  and  wrote  to  Mrs.  Lincoln 
a  private  letter  in  which  she  expressed  the  sincere  sympathy 
she  felt  for  her  in  her  bereavement  under  such  tragic  cir- 
cumstances. 

And  here  I  may  say  that  her  Majesty  took  a  most 
lively  interest  in  the  progress  of  the  War  of  the  Secession 
from  its  very  beginning.  Not  that  she  cared  to  hear  about 
the  battles  and  sieges,  and  the  exploits  of  armies  and  com- 
manders, but  she  was  deeply  concerned  to  know  what  was 
being  done  to  alleviate  the  immense  amount  of  suffering 
inevitable  from  diseases  and  wounds  in  a  war  carried  on 
over  such  a  vast  and  thinly  inhabited  country  and  on  such 
a  scale.  As  early  as  1862 — about  the  time  General  Mc- 
Clellan  opened  the  campaign  that  came  to  its  close  at  Har- 
rison's Landing  on  the  James  River — she  asked  me  if  I 
could  furnish  her  with  any  information  respecting  the  pro- 
visions that  had  been  made  by  our  Government  for  the  care 
of  the  sick  and  wounded;  and  more  particularly  to  what 
extent,  if  any,  voluntary  aid  was  supplementing  the  official 
service.  Having  inquired  into  this  matter  I  explained  to 
her  Majesty  how  the  medical  service  of  the  United  States 
Army  was  organized;  and  informed  her  that  a  Sanitary 
Commission  had  been  created,  unofficial  in  character  but 
recognized  by  the  Government,  the  object  of  which  was  to 
inspect  the  camps  and  hospitals,  bring  to  the  notice  of  the 
ll 


142         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

proper  authorities  any  neglect  or  want  therein,  and  direct 
the  distribution  of  voluntary  assistance,  whether  in  the 
form  of  material  gifts  or  personal  service.  I  told  her  that 
the  people  of  the  North  had  responded  most  generously  to 
the  calls  for  contributions  issued  by  the  Commission ;  that 
its  agents  were  working  harmoniously  with  the  regular 
medical  staff ;  and  that  never  before  in  any  army  had  such 
large  provision  been  made  for  the  sanitation  of  the  troops 
while  in  camp  and  the  care  of  the  sick  and  wounded.  The 
Empress  asked  me  to  write  out  what  I  had  told  her  about 
this  Commission,  which  I  did.  A  few  days  afterward  I 
received  from  her  the  following  letter : 

[translation] 

Paris,  May  13th,  1862. 
"  Dr.  Thomas  W.  Evans, 

'  Sir  :  In  reply  to  your  letter,  I  thank  you  for  the  infor- 
mation which  you  have  given  me  with  respect  to  the  organ- 
ization and  the  work  of  the  United  States  Sanitary  Com- 
mission. 

' '  This  institution  interests  me  very  greatly,  and  I  love  to 
think  that  it  will  not  be  long  before  many  associations,  ani- 
mated as  this  one  is  by  the  spirit  of  charity  and  humanity, 
will  be  organized  everywhere  to  give  succor  to  the  wounded 
and  the  sick — to  friends  and  enemies  alike. 

"  Believe  me, 

"  Yours  very  sincerely, 

"  EUGENIE." 

It  was  through  the  encouragement  I  received  from  her 
Majesty,  perhaps  more  than  from  any  other  person,  that 
I  was  induced  to  prepare  a  work  on  the  United  States  Sani- 
tary Commission,  which  was  published  in  French,  in  1865, 
under  the  title  of  "  La  Commission  Sanitaire  des  Etats- 
Unis;  son  origine,  son  organisation,  et  ses  resultats." 


CHAPTER    V 

THE    INDUSTRIAL    DEVELOPMENT    OF    PRANCE 

The  importance  of  the  works  of  Napoleon  III. — -He  created  modern 
Paris;  its  parks  and  water- works;  its  public  buildings — Provincial 
cities  reconstructed — Roads  and  railways  extended — Credit  insti- 
tutions founded — Commercial  treaties  made — The  increase  of 
capital;  of  trade — The  interest  of  the  Emperor  in  the  lodgings  of 
artizans  and  the  sanitation  of  cities — What  the  Emperor  did  for 
agriculture — His  interest  in  the  welfare  of  the  industrial  classes — 
How  he  came  to  the  relief  of  the  people  at  the  time  of  the  great 
inundations — The  Exposition  of  1867 — A  dreadful  picture  of 
moral  corruption — The  greatest  work  of  Napoleon  III. 

5A.POLEON  III.  by  most  political  and  historical 
iQt}  writers  is  not  criticized,  but  calumniated.  If 
his  reign  had  ended  successfully,  his  personal 
qualities  would  have  exalted  him  to  the  skies; 
but  since  his  career  was  destroyed  by  a  reverse  of  fortune, 
his  faults  have  been  monstrously  exaggerated,  and  few  wri- 
ters have  endeavored  to  remind  the  world  of  his  public 
virtues  and  accomplishments.  While,  unfortunately,  peo- 
ple in  general  are  more  inclined  to  listen  to  what  is  said 
about  great  men  than  to  see  and  appreciate  what  is  done 
by  them,  it  is  curious  to  notice  that  the  purely  dramatic 
and  spectacular  elements  in  the  lives  of  the  two  Napoleons, 
as  persons,  have  been  of  such  absorbing  interest  as  to  make 
us  almost  insensible  of  the  importance  of  the  really  great 
constructive  works  relating  to  the  administration  of  civil 
affairs,  upon  which  imperishable  foundation  the  reputation 
of  both,  as  sovereigns,  must  ultimately  rest. 

143 


144         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

I  have  already  set  forth  with  some  particularity  the 
traits  of  the  Emperor's  character  that  were  most  strongly 
impressed  upon  me  during  the  long  period  of  my  personal 
relations  with  him;  and  I  shall  probably  have  occasion  to 
refer  to  them  again  in  the  desultory  way  that  reminis- 
cences permit,  and  as  the  events  and  incidents  of  the 
narrative  may  suggest.  But  I  should  not  feel  that  I  had 
done  justice  to  Napoleon  III.  if  I  failed,  in  my  description 
of  the  man,  to  refer  to  his  merits  as  a  ruler,  and  made 
no  mention  of  his  work  as  an  upbuilder  of  the  nation.  I 
shall  therefore,  in  this  chapter,  submit  to  the  reader's  con- 
sideration a  few  facts  that  ought  not  to  be  overlooked  or 
forgotten,  and  which,  I  trust,  will  be  sufficient  to  prove 
that  the  Emperor  not  only  cherished  in  his  mind  noble  and 
generous  ideas  and  purposes,  but  that  he  actually  did  a 
great  deal  for  the  welfare  of  his  people  and  for  the  glory 
of  France. 

Baron  Haussmann,  the  Prefect  of  the  Seine,  when  he 
heard  some  one  express  admiration  for  the  magnificent 
results  obtained  as  the  work  of  reconstructing  and  embel- 
lishing the  city  of  Paris  progressed,  used  to  say:  "  It  was 
the  Emperor  who  marked  out  all  this.  I  have  only  been 
his  collaborator." 

And  if  the  "  Great  Baron  "  recognized  the  directing 
mind  and  the  will  that  created  modern  Paris,  the  Emperor 
himself  always  most  generously  acknowledged  his  obliga- 
tion to  this  able  and  most  devoted  collaborator. 

In  1858,  on  the  occasion  of  the  inauguration  of  the 
Boulevard  Sebastopol,  the  Emperor  said:  '  When  suc- 
ceeding generations  shall  traverse  our  great  city,  not  only 
will  they  acquire  a  taste  for  the  beautiful,  from  the  spec- 
tacle of  these  works  of  art,  but,  in  reading  the  names 
inscribed  upon  our  bridges  and  our  streets,  they  will  recall 
to  themselves  the  glory  of  our  armies — from  Rivoli  to  Sebas- 
topol. All  these  grand  results  I  owe  to  the  cooperation  of 
the  Legislative  Body,  who,  renouncing  all  provincial  self- 


INDUSTRIAL    DEVELOPMENT  145 

ishness,  have  learned  that  a  country  like  France  should 
have  a  capital  worthy  of  itself,  and  have  not  hesitated  to 
grant  the  sums  which  the  Government  has  solicited.  I 
owe  them  also  to  the  enlightened  cooperation  of  the  Munici- 
pal Council.  But  especially  do  I  owe  their  prompt  and 
judicious  execution  to  the  intelligent  magistrate  whom  I 
have  placed  at  the  head  of  the  Department  of  the  Seine, 
who,  while  maintaining  in  the  finances  of  the  city  an  order 
worthy  of  all  praise,  has  been  able  in  so  short  a  time  to 
complete  enterprises  so  numerous,  and  that  in  the  midst 
of  obstacles  incessantly  arising  from  the  spirit  of  routine 
and  disparagement." 

M.  Maxime  du  Camp  says:  "  If,  by  a  fairy's  wand,  the 
Paris  of  the  time  of  the  Revolution  of  February  could  be 
brought  back  and  exhibited  to  the  modern  world,  people 
would  wonder  how  a  race  which  loves  luxury  so  much  as 
the  Parisians  do,  could  have  lived  in  such  a  pestilential 
and  unhealthy  city  as  the  French  capital  was  before  Na- 
poleon III.,  with  the  assistance  of  his  intelligent  Prefect 
Ilaussmann,  changed  Paris  into  the  attractive  place  of 
residence  which  it  has  now  become. ' '  * 

The  filthy  and  dangerous  lanes  of  the  Montague  Sainte- 
Genevieve,  and  the  ugly  wine-shops  near  the  Arc  de  Tri- 
omphe,  were,  to  use  an  expression  of  the  author  mentioned, 
"  the  plague-spots  "  through  which  the  Emperor  drew  his 
pencil,  erecting  in  their  place  broad  streets  and  handsome 
boulevards.  The  whole  city  was  reconstructed  upon  a 
grand  plan.  The  special  aim  of  the  Emperor  was  to  make 
the  several  quarters  of  his  capital  beautiful,  and  at  the 
same  time  healthy,  by  changing  the  general  style  of  the 
buildings,  and  by  establishing  a  great  number  of  public 
gardens  and  promenades,  where  the  children  and  the  aged 
and  infirm  could  enjoy  the  benefit  of  the  fresh  air  and 
the  sun.     For  if  the  West  End  of  Paris  had  its  Bois  de 

*  "  Paris,  ses  Organes,  ses  Fonctions  et  sa  vie."     Paris,  Hachette  et 
Cie.,  1875. 


146         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

Boulogne,  to  the  East  Side,  the  artisan  quarter  of  the 
capital,  was  given  the  Bois  de  Vincennes,  the  disposition 
of  whose  spacious  grounds,  with  their  broad  avenues,  su- 
perb trees,  grassy  lawns  and  fountains,  and  magnificent 
vistas,  compels  the  admiration  of  every  one.  Nor  should 
we  forget  to  mention  the  Buttes-Chaumont,  that  exquisite 
little  park  opened  in  Belleville,  in  the  slums  of  the  city, 
which,  as  a  work  of  art,  is  the  most  beautiful  of  all  the 
Paris  parks,  and  yet  is  so  seldom  seen  by  the  foreign  visitor. 

For  the  same  purpose  the  splendid  sewers  of  Paris  were 
constructed,  which  are  the  admiration  of  foreigners  as  well 
as  of  Parisians,  and  which  by  their  extent  alone  create 
astonishment;  for  even  in  the  year  1869  they  were  518 
kilometers  (over  300  miles)   in  length. 

In  the  year  1852  the  city  was  not  able  to  distribute 
more  than  105,000  cubic  meters  of  water  per  day,  while 
under  the  Empire  the  water-works  were  so  improved  that, 
in  the  year  1869,  538,000  cubic  meters  were  furnished  daily. 
But  this  was  not  all.  As  late  as  the  year  1866,  the  water 
used  by  the  inhabitants  of  Paris,  even  for  domestic  pur- 
poses, was  taken  almost  entirely  from  the  Seine  and  the 
river  Marne.  It  was  impossible  to  preserve  it  from  pollu- 
tion, and  consequently  typhoid  was  endemic  in  the  city 
and  the  death-rate  was  high.  The  serious  defects  and  the 
absolute  inadequacy  of  the  system  employed  to  supply 
Paris  with  water,  and  especially  with  potable  water,  were 
frequently  pointed  out.  But  the  great  majority  of  Pari- 
sians would  appear  to  have  accepted  as  definitive  the  pro- 
nouncement of  the  hygienist  Parmentier,  the  discoverer  of 
the  potato,  who  declared,  in  1787,  that  "  the  water  of  the 
Seine  unites  all  the  qualities  which  could  be  desired  to 
make  it  agreeable  to  the  palate,  light  in  the  stomach,  and 
favorable  to  digestion;  and  the  Parisians  are  not  wrong 
if  they  never  end  their  eulogies  of  the  Seine,  and  if  they 
contend  with  assurance  that  its  waters  are  the  best  of  all 
waters."    In  the  presence  of  such  a  prejudice,  and  in  view 


INDUSTRIAL    DEVELOPMENT  147 

of  the  prevailing  ignorance  with  respect  to  sanitary  mat- 
ters, it  is  not  surprising  that  practically  nothing  was  done 
to  improve  a  situation  that  was  becoming  constantly  more 
and  more  dangerous  to  the  public  health,  until  the  Em- 
peror took  up  the  subject  of  supplying  Paris  with  drink- 
ing-water from  uncontaminated  sources.  For  this  special 
purpose  work  was  begun  in  1864,  and  the  aqueduct  of  the 
Dhuis  was  completed  in  1866,  at  a  cost  of  18,000,000  francs; 
it  was  131  kilometers  in  length,  and  brought  into  the  city 
25,000  cubic  meters  of  water  daily. 

But  in  the  meantime  the  ravages  of  the  cholera,  in 
1865,  had  again  drawn  the  attention  of  hygienists  to  the 
insufficiency  of  the  water  supply,  and  two  years  later  the 
construction  of  the  aqueduct  of  the  Vanne  was  begun.  This 
great  work  was  finished  at  a  cost  of  52,000,000  francs;  it 
was  173  kilometers  in  length,  and  provided  Paris  daily  with 
120,000  cubic  meters  of  spring-water  of  excellent  quality. 

The  beauty  of  several  of  the  public  buildings  erected 
by  the  late  Emperor  is  an  attraction  and  a  delight  to  every 
visitor  of  Paris.  But  few  Parisians  even  have  any  idea  of 
the  very  large  number  of  these  buildings,  or  of  the  number 
of  the  great  monumental  constructions  that  were  built  in 
Paris  during  his  reign;  for  as  far  as  possible  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  Republic  has  carefully  obliterated  every  name 
inscribed  upon  them,  and  every  emblem  they  bore  indica- 
tive of  their  origin.  I  shall  therefore  remind  the  reader 
that  it  was  Napoleon  III.  who  connected  the  Louvre  with 
the  Tuileries,  who  built  the  churches  of  Saint  Augustin, 
La  Trinite,  Sainte-Clotilde,  Saint  Joseph,  Saint  Ambroise, 
Saint  Eugene,  Notre  Dame-des-Champs,  Saint  Pierre  do 
Mont  Rouge,  and  many  others ;  that  it  was  he  who  erected 
or  restored  the  splendid  edifices  of  the  new  Palais  de  Jus- 
tice, the  Tribunal  de  Commerce,  the  Hotel  Dieu,  the  Grand 
Opera,  the  Halles  Centrales,  and  the  Temple;  that  it  was 
he  who  built  the  great  bridges  over  the  Seine,  the  Pont 
Napoleon  III.,  the  Pont  de  Bercy,  the  Pont  d 'Areola,  the 


148         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

Pont  Notre  Dame,  the  Pont  an  Change,  the  Pont  au  Double, 
the  Petit  Pont,  the  Pont  Louis  Philippe,  the  Pont  Saint 
Michel,  the  Pont  de  Solferino,  the  Pont  des  Invalides,  the 
Pont  d'Alma,  and  the  Pont  d'Auteuil;  that  it  was  he  who 
surrounded  the  parks  and  the  gardens  with  their  gilded 
railings  and  erected  their  great  entrance  gates,  and  who 
adorned  the  French  capital  with  fountains  and  statues  and 
a  hundred  other  ornamental  structures. 

On  account  of  the  interest  which  the  Emperor  took  in 
the  arts  and  sciences,  the  collections  of  the  Louvre  were 
quadrupled;  the  so-called  Campagne  Galleries  were  pur- 
chased; the  "  Union  Centrale  des  Beaux- Arts  appliques  a 
l'industrie  "  was  founded;  the  Musee  d'Artillerie  received 
rich  additions ;  in  the  old  Palace  of  Saint  Germain  the  well- 
known  archaeological  museum  was  created;  the  Musee  de 
Cluny  and  the  Tour  Saint  Jacques  were  restored ;  the  Hotel 
Carnavelet  was  changed  into  a  museum  for  a  collection  of 
the  antiquities  of  the  city  of  Paris;  the  Imperial  Library 
received  some  very  valuable  additions;  and  the  Biblio- 
theque  Sainte-Genevieve  was  thrown  open  to  the  public. 

In  fact,  the  city  of  Paris,  as  it  appears  to  the  visitor 
to-day,  was  created  by  Napoleon  III. ;  for  whatever  public 
improvements  have  been  made,  since  1870,  have  been  exe- 
cuted only  to  complete  the  original  plan  of  the  Emperor 
and  his  famous  Prefect  of  the  Seine.* 

"  Victor  Hugo,"  says  Blanchard  Jerrold  in  his  "  Life 
of  Napoleon  the  Third,"  "  dwells  in  a  fashionable  quarter 
of  Paris,  his  beloved  city,  which  had  no  existence  when  he 
went  into  exile.  He  tells  every  foreign  visitor  who  calls 
on  him  that  there  have  been  three  cities  of  the  world — 
Athens,  Rome,  Paris;  but  when  he  says  '  Paris-Urbs;'  he 
forgets  the  sovereign  who  made  her  what  she  is,  and  laid 

*  This  statement  was  absolutely  true  when  it  was  written  ;  and, 
excepting  the  improvements  made  in  connection  with  the  Exposition 
of  1900,  among  which  the  "  Metropolitan  "  subway  should  be  included, 
is  true  now,  in  1905. 


INDUSTRIAL    DEVELOPMENT  149 

the  foundation  of  that  matchless  city  of  the  future,  which, 
according  to  him,  will  have  the  Arc  de  Triomphe  for  its 
center. ' ' 

It  should  be  remembered,  also,  that  these  great  public 
works  were  constructed  not  merely  during  the  Imperial 
regime,  but  at  the  suggestion,  and  frequently  by  the  com- 
mand, of  the  Emperor  himself;  that  they  were,  in  a  word, 
something  more  than  the  products  of  the  general  social 
demands  and  industrial  activities  and  forces  of  the  period. 
It  is  impossible  to  deny  this.  Who  has  not  heard  of  the 
"  Comptes  fantastiques  d'Haussmann  "?  Indeed,  the  op- 
position to  nearly  all  these  improvements,  on  the  ground 
of  their  uselessness  and  extravagance,  was  so  noisy  and 
so  general,  while  they  were  being  executed,  that  its  echoes 
are  still  to  be  heard  whenever  questions  concerning  public 
works  in  the  city  of  Paris  are  under  discussion  in  the 
Municipal  Council  or  in  the  Chamber  of  Deputies. 

But  while  these  improvements  and  embellishments  of 
the  capital  were  being  made,  the  provincial  cities,  and  the 
picturesque  nooks  and  corners  even,  of  the  Empire  were 
not  neglected.  Lord  Malmesbury,  writing  in  1863,  says: 
"  I  stopped  a  day  at  Carcassonne,  an  ancient  city  so  fa- 
mous for  the  desperate  fighting  of  the  Albigeois  and  the 
deeds  of  Simon  de  Montfort.  The  Emperor  has  had  the 
city  and  fortifications  restored  exactly  to  the  state  they 
were  in  at  this  time;  the  streets  are  just  wide  enough  for 
a  cart  to  pass,  and  the  towers  and  battlements  are  what  they 
were  in  the  thirteenth  century.  In  every  part  of  France  he 
is  making  archaeological  restorations,  and  his  active  mind 
seems  as  much  interested  in  this  pursuit  as  it  is  in  politics ; 
but,"  he  adds  significantly,  "  as  far  as  I  can  observe,  the 
French  do  not  appreciate  his  efforts  as  they  deserve." 

In  the  meantime  the  whole  country  was  greatly  bene- 
fited by  works  constructed  with  direct  reference  to  the 
development  of  the  national  resources ;  and  by  the  estab- 


150         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

lishment  or  enlargement  of  public  institutions,  the  creation 
of  technical  schools  and  reformations  in  the  universities. 

In  order  to  facilitate  communication  throughout  the 
Empire,  26,846  kilometers  of  macadamized  roads  were 
made,  many  rivers  were  rendered  navigable,  ports  were 
improved,  and  the  docks  of  Cherbourg  were  finished. 

The  shipping  employed  in  commerce,  and  especially 
that  portion  of  it  which  was  engaged  in  the  coasting-trade, 
was  considerably  increased  in  tonnage  and  greatly  im- 
proved; while  the  navy,  that  had  previously  consisted  of 
wooden  sailing-vessels,  was  transformed  into  a  fleet  of  arm- 
ored steamships. 

The  railways  were  extended  over  the  whole  of  France; 
and  in  1869  the  total  length  of  these  roads  amounted  to 
23,900  kilometers.  The  new  system  of  telegraphy  was  in- 
augurated and  rapidly  developed. 

In  order  to  free  property  from  the  burden  of  debts 
and  to  encourage  industry,  numerous  credit  institutions 
were  founded,  among  them  the  well-known  Credit  Foncier. 
And  when  the  Government  wished  to  borrow  money,  it  did 
not  address  itself  simply  to  the  great  bankers,  but  gave  a 
chance  of  profit  to  persons  having  little  capital,  by  raising 
the  loan  through  public  subscriptions.  In  1847  the  public 
funds  were  in  the  hands  of  207,000  persons,  two-thirds  of 
whom  were  living  in  Paris.  In  1854  the  number  of  holders 
of  these  funds  had  increased  to  664,000,  more  than  half  of 
whom  were  living  in  the  Departments.  This  diffusion 
among  the  people  of  the  securities  of  the  State  was  evidence 
not  only  of  increasing  general  prosperity,  but  of  public 
confidence  in  the  stability  of  the  Government. 

In  1860  the  commercial  treaty  with  England  gave  to 
France  the  benefits  of  freer  trade;  and  some  years  later 
similar  treaties  were  concluded  with  other  countries,  and 
the  commerce  of  the  Empire  increased  largely. 

As  the  colonies  were  included  in  the  provisions  of  these 
treaties,  and  the  markets  of  the  world  were  thus  opened 


INDUSTRIAL    DEVELOPMENT  151 

to  them,  they  were  enabled  to  extend  their  trade  with  for- 
eign countries,  and  to  share  in  the  benefits  derived  by  the 
mother  country  from  the  liberal  and  enlightened  commer- 
cial policy  of  the  Imperial  Government. 

Paris,  especially,  felt  the  stimulating  influence  of  this 
policy.  Not  only  was  its  industrial  output  enormously  in- 
creased, but  property  rose  in  value  on  every  side.  In  1847 
the  manufactures  of  the  city  represented  a  value  of  but 
1,500,000,000  francs ;  in  1869  their  value  was  over  6,000,- 
000,000.  And  while  the  land  within  the  limits  of  the  city, 
together  with  the  buildings,  in  1851,  was  taxed  on  an  esti- 
mated value  of  2,557,000,000  francs,  in  1869  it  was  rated 
at  5,957,000,000  francs. 

In  1851  the  revenues  of  the  city  amounted  to  52,000,000 
francs,  and  already  in  1867  they  had  been  increased  to 
151,000,000  francs. 

The  improvements  affecting  trade  in  general  under  the 
Empire  were  such  that  the  exports  and  imports,  which 
represented,  in  1848,  a  value  of  1,645,000,000  francs,  had 
increased  in  1857  to  4,593,000,000  francs,  and  in  1869  to 
6,228,000,000  francs.  In  1850  the  per  capita  wealth  of  the 
nation  was  estimated  at  about  2,500  francs ;  it  had  reached 
nearly  double  that  sum  in  1870.  In  a  word,  France  en- 
joyed, during  a  period  of  eighteen  years,  unbounded  and 
unbroken  industrial  prosperity.* 

Just  as  the  Empress  paid  especial  attention  to  the  needs 
of  the  poor  and  the  sick,  so  the  Emperor  devoted  much 
time  to  the  consideration  of  ways  and  means  for  amelio- 
rating the  situation  of  the  working  classes. 

*  By  one  of  those  chances  of  dramatic  injustice  only  too  common  in 
the  world  of  affairs,  by  which  one  man  reaps  where  another  man  has 
sown,  the  credit  which  justly  attaches  to  this  threat  increase  in  the 
national  wealth  has  been  given  not  to  Napoleon  III.,  but  to  M.  Thiers, 
to  whose  financial  ability  is  attributed  the  extraordinary  facility  and 
rapidity  with  which  the  enormous  war  ransom  demanded  by  Prince 
Bismarck  was  paid  off  by  the  French  Republic. 


152         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

The  sanitary  conditions  obtaining  in  the  houses  and 
lodgings  of  the  great  majority  of  laborers  and  artisans 
seemed  to  him  to  be  exceedingly  defective.  He  accordingly 
caused  numerous  model  lodging-houses,  as  well  as  model 
dwellings  for  single  families,  to  be  constructed,  and  finally 
introduced  into  France  the  English  Building  Society  sys- 
tem. In  the  year  1859  he  contributed  100,000  francs  tow- 
ards the  improvement  of  houses  for  workmen  in  Lille ;  and 
similar  gifts  were  made  for  the  same  purpose  to  the  mu- 
nicipalities of  Amiens,  Bayonne,  and  other  cities.  In  the 
year  1864  the  sum  of  1,500,000  francs  was  expended  by 
the  Emperor  in  building  180  workmen's  houses;  and  in 
1867-68  he  built  42  model  houses  for  working  people  at 
Daumesnil. 

Sanitary  science,  we  may  unhesitatingly  say,  was,  pre- 
vious to  1852,  scarcely  known  in  France  outside  of  Paris; 
and  nearly  all  the  improvements  which  have  since  been 
made  in  the  sanitary  condition  of  French  cities  were  begun 
not  only  under  the  reign,  but  at  the  instance  and  direction, 
of  Napoleon  III.  His  Government  voted,  in  1852,  the  sum 
of  10,000,000  francs  for  the  purpose  of  improving  the  pub- 
lic health  of  manufacturing  towns;  and  the  Emperor  sel- 
dom visited  any  of  the  cities  of  France  without  making 
inquiries  with  respect  to  the  water  supply,  drainage,  over- 
crowding, and  all  those  matters  that  concern  the  health  of 
the  inhabitants  of  cities,  or  without  impressing  upon  the 
municipal  authorities  the  importance,  and  the  necessity 
even,  of  having  in  the  construction  and  the  administra- 
tion of  public  works  a  strict  regard  for  the  requirements 
of  sanitary  science. 

But  it  was  not  the  inhabitants  of  cities  only  whose 
fortunes  were  improved,  whose  opportunities  were  en- 
larged, and  who  were  benefited  in  many  ways  by  the  care 
of  the  French  monarch.  He  paid  great  attention  to  agri- 
culture and  its  improvement,  and  was  always  deeply  in- 
terested in  all  public  measures  the  object  of  which  was 


INDUSTRIAL    DEVELOPMENT  153 

to  advance  the  interests  of  the  tillers  of  the  soil.  In  the 
year  1852  he  established  in  every  arrondissement  agricul- 
tural associations;  he  also  encouraged  agricultural  exhibi- 
tions by  rich  donations.  On  the  10th  of  June,  1854,  he 
introduced  a  law  for  facilitating  the  draining  of  marshes, 
and  a  credit  of  100,000,000  francs  was  opened,  from  which 
farmers  and  land-owners  could  borrow  capital  to  drain 
their  lands,  with  the  privilege  of  repaying  their  loans  in 
instalments  extending  over  a  period  of  twenty-five  years. 

Model  farms  were  erected  in  many  parts  of  the  French 
Empire;  and  vast  tracts  of  country,  which,  previously 
covered  with  sand-dunes,  had  been  entirely  barren,  and 
moors  and  fens  uninhabited  on  account  of  malaria,  were 
transformed  into  productive  forests,  healthy  territories, 
rich  corn-fields,  and  beautiful  gardens. 

The  endeavors  of  Napoleon  III.  to  improve  the  condi- 
tion of  the  poor  and  to  help  them  in  their  misfortunes, 
were  once  known  all  over  France;  at  present,  however, 
the  world  seems  to  have  forgotten  them.  The  time  he  gave 
to  the  study  of  questions  concerning  the  welfare  of  the 
masses  of  the  people,  and  more  particularly  of  the  in- 
dustrial classes,  is  truly  remarkable.  It  was  a  subject 
that  was  never  out  of  his  mind.  A  paper  on  the  means 
of  relieving  the  situation  of  aged  and  necessitous  work- 
ing men,  without  having  recourse  to  public  charity,  written 
in  his  own  hand,  was  found  at  the  Tuileries,  bearing  the 
date  of  July  5,  1870.  And  six  years  before — in  1864: — 
he  gave  instructions  that  the  Opera  House  which  was  being 
erected  in  Paris  should  not  be  finished  until  the  Hotel 
Dieu,  the  great  central  hospital  of  the  city,  had  been  built 
and  its  wards  opened  to  the  public.  The  Emperor  felt 
that  human  life  was  worth  more  to  the  State  than  the 
most  splendid  products  of  art,  and  that  it  was  the  duty 
of  a  sovereign  to  satisfy  the  wants  and  assuage  the  suf- 
ferings of  his  people  before  providing  for  their  pleasures 
and  amusements.     "  Admitting,"  he  says,  "  that  this  ar- 


154         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

rangement  has  no  practical  advantage,  from  a  moral  point 
of  view  I  hold  it  important  that  the  edifice  to  be  devoted 
to  pleasure  shall  not  be  raised  before  the  shelter  for  suf- 
fering. ' ' 

At  the  time  of  the  disastrous  floods  that  ravaged  the 
valleys  of  the  Loire  and  the  Rhone,  invading  Orleans, 
Blois,  Tours,  Lyons,  Aries,  Orange,  Avignon,  and  scores 
of  other  cities,  sweeping  away  houses,  turning  the  streets 
into  canals,  covering  the  country  for  miles  around  with 
great  lakes — a  catastrophe  involving  not  only  the  loss  of 
many  lives  but  the  destruction  of  a  vast  amount  of  prop- 
erty— the  Emperor  came  to  the  relief  of  his  unfortunate 
people  promptly  and  most  generously.  Six  hundred  thou- 
sand francs  from  his  own  private  purse  he  gave  them  at 
once  to  meet  the  most  pressing  individual  needs.  And 
this  sum  was  greatly  increased  by  the  gifts  made  in  the 
name  of  the  Empress  and  the  Prince  Imperial.  Sub- 
sequently 2,000,000  francs  were  granted  by  the  Chambers 
to  assist  the  sufferers  from  those  inundations. 

But  the  interest  of  the  Emperor  in  this  great  calamity 
was  not  limited  to  a  benevolent  desire  to  supply  the 
immediate  wants  of  those  who  had  lost  everything  they 
possessed.  He  wished  to  see  for  himself  just  what  had 
taken  place,  how  it  had  happened,  and  what  could  be 
done  to  prevent  a  repetition  of  the  disaster.  With  this 
object  in  view,  he  visited  personally  the  departments  that 
were  the  scene  of  the  calamity,  wading  in  the  water  or 
being  rowed  in  a  boat  for  miles  across  the  inundated  fields. 
Then  he  directed  that  a  detailed  report  of  the  damage 
caused  by  the  floods  should  be  prepared,  together  with 
plans  for  the  construction  of  the  works  necessary  to  keep 
the  waters  of  the  two  rivers  between  their  banks.  The 
letter  he  wrote  from  Plombieres  shortly  after,  in  July, 
1856,  to  his  Minister  of  Public  Works,  is  no  less  remark- 
able on  account  of  the  extraordinary  knowledge  it  shows 
the  Emperor  possessed  of  the  technical  details  of  hydraulic 


INDUSTRIAL    DEVELOPMENT  155 

engineering,  than  for  the  earnestness  with  which  he  urges 
the  minister  to  set  about  this  particular  work  at  once,  on 
the  spot,  and  not  suffer  it  to  end  in  talk  and  "  luminous 
reports. ' ' 

And  if  now,  for  more  than  forty  years,  no  similar  dis- 
asters have  occurred  in  the  valleys  of  the  Loire  and  the 
Rhone,  it  is  not  because  the  rains  have  become  less  tor- 
rential there,  but  because,  in  accordance  with  the  wishes, 
and,  I  might  almost  say,  under  the  personal  direction 
of  the  Emperor,  provisions  were  made  and  works  were 
constructed  at  the  danger  points  which  have  proved  suf- 
ficient to  prevent  any  considerable  overflow  of  the  waters 
of  these  rivers. 

The  Exposition  of  1867  was  a  brilliant,  if  transient, 
representation  of  the  work  accomplished  in  France  since 
1855,  in  nearly  every  field  of  human  interest  and  activity, 
in  the  sciences,  the  arts,  in  morals,  in  politics,  and  in 
charity.  All  the  nations  of  the  world  were  invited  to 
participate  in  this  great  festival,  and  by  their  presence 
to  crown  the  efforts  of  labor  with  the  idea  of  conciliation 
and  peace.  Its  success  was  immense  and  well-deserved. 
The  international  exhibitions  of  later  years  have  been 
"  bigger,"  but  not  one  of  them  has  been  so  admirably  or- 
ganized, so  proportionate  in  its  several  parts,  so  perfectly 
fitted  to  facilitate  those  comparative  studies  of  the  ma- 
terials, conditions,  methods,  and  products  exhibited,  which 
increase  the  sum  of  useful  knowledge  and  extend  the  bene- 
fits of  civilization  to  distant  communities.  Nor  has  any 
similar  international  assembly  ever  contributed  more  ef- 
fectively to  establish  a  feeling  of  respect  for  each  other, 
and  relations  of  concord  and  amity  among  the  rulers  of 
the  world.  This  was  the  supreme  purpose  of  the  Exposi- 
tion of  1867.  It  was  an  impressive  manifestation  of  the 
Imperial  will  that  the  sword  was  to  be  no  longer  the  in- 
strument upon  which  France  relied  for  the  maintenance 
of  her  prestige  and  influence  among  the  nations.     On  the 


156         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

occasion  of  the  distribution  of  awards  on  the  1st  of  July 
— one  of  the  most  magnificent  ceremonies  which  it  was 
ever  my  privilege  to  witness — the  Emperor  closed  his  ad- 
dress with  these  words : 

"  May  those  who  have  lived  a  little  while  among  us 
carry  back  with  them  a  just  opinion  of  our  country;  let 
them  be  persuaded  that  we  entertain  sentiments  of  esteem 
and  sympathy  for  foreign  nations,  and  that  we  sincerely 
desire  to  live  in  peace  with  them.  This  Exposition  will 
mark,  I  hope,  a  new  era  of  harmony  and  progress.  Con- 
vinced, as  I  am,  that  Providence  blesses  the  efforts  of  all 
those  who  wish  to  do  well,  as  we  do,  I  believe  in  the 
definitive  triumph  of  the  great  principles  of  morality  and 
justice,  which,  satisfying  all  legitimate  aspirations,  are  able 
alone  to  consolidate  thrones,  lift  up  the  people,  and  en- 
noble humanity." 

It  has  often  been  said  that  the  Exposition  of  1867 
marked  the  apogee  of  the  Imperial  power.  All  eyes  were 
then  turned  towards  France ;  never  had  such  a  concourse 
of  distinguished  visitors,  princes,  kings,  and  emperors 
assembled  in  the  capital  of  a  foreign  State  to  pay  homage 
to  its  sovereigns.  But  it  marked  also,  in  an  extraordinary 
manner,  the  progress  that  had  been  made  by  the  people 
under  the  Empire,  materially  and  socially;  for  never  be- 
fore had  the  industrial  forces  and  artistic  genius  of  France 
been  exhibited  with  such  splendor  and  effect. 

But  some  one  may  ask :  While  all  these  things  may  have 
been  done  by  the  Emperor,  has  not  the  whole  period  of 
the  Empire  often  been  characterized  by  contemporary 
writers  as  one  preeminently  devoted  to  the  cultivation 
of  material  interests,  to  inordinate  speculation,  luxury, 
and  immorality?  It  certainly  has  been.  And  the  bill 
of  indictment  reads  as  follows :  ' '  The  commercial  and 
industrial  activity  of  this  epoch,  and  the  over-stimulation 
which  it  gives  to  all  the  material  appetites,  have  resulted 
in  a  frightful  competition,  the  most  shocking  forms  of 


INDUSTRIAL    DEVELOPMENT  157 

stock-jobbing,  and  a  love  of  dollars  more  impudent  and 
brazen-faced  than  under  the  Regency  or  the  Directory. 
To  get  money  without  work,  by  the  shortest  cuts,  to  invent 
ways  of  speculating  on  the  credulity  of  the  public,  to  find 
dupes;  in  a  word,  to  transact  business,  is  the  sole  thought 
and  occupation  of  the  most  influential  part  of  the  popula- 
tion, of  a  society  brilliant  and  corrupt,  as  destitute  of 
belief  as  of  feeling,  and  that  knows  only  material  pleas- 
ures and  the  enjoyments  of  luxury." 

This  is  the  dreadful  picture  which  has  been  drawn  of 
the  decadence  and  moral  corruption  that  existed  under 
the  Empire.  No,  I  am  mistaken.  These  words  were  used 
in  describing  the  state  of  things  under  the  government 
of  Louis  Philippe  and  his  austere  minister,  M.  Guizot.* 
And  they  have  been  used,  or  words  quite  like  them  have 
been  used,  and  can  be  found  in  every  account  of  the 
life  of  a  great  people  since  history  began  to  be  written. 
Moreover,  they  will  continue  to  be  used  by  political  mor- 
alists so  long  as  civilized  society  exists;  for  the  more 
splendid  its  fruits,  the  more  renowned  the  victories  of 
peace,  so  the  more  conspicuous  are  likely  to  be  some  of 
their  undesirable  products  and  accompaniments.  In  short, 
as  certain  social  conditions  seem  to  be  inevitable,  when 
the  rewards  of  labor  are  abundant  and  wealth  accumulates, 
it  follows  that  some  of  the  most  serious  charges  directed 
against  the  domestic  policy  and  the  morality  of  the  Im- 
perial Government  are  in  reality  only  a  way  of  saying 
what  I  have  endeavored  to  briefly  set  forth  in  the  preced- 
ing pages — that,  under  the  rule  of  Napoleon  III.,  the 
French  people  enjoyed  unusual  material  prosperity. 

But  the  greatest  work  of  Napoleon  III.  was  in  the 
field  of  international  politics,  and  was  performed  for 
the  honor,  the  glory,  and  the  greater  empire  of  France. 
This  was  the  destruction  of  the  European  coalition  that 


*  Lavalles,  "  Histoire  de  Paris,"  tome  i,  p.  312. 
12 


158         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

had  held,  or  tried  to  hold,  France  in  subjection  since  the 
overthrow  of  the  First  Empire.  It  was  his  wisdom  in  en- 
tering into  an  alliance  with  England,  the  prestige  gained 
by  the  war  in  the  Crimea,  strengthened  and  completed  by 
his  successful  intervention,  in  1859,  in  behalf  of  the  king- 
dom of  Italy,  that  restored  to  France  her  hegemony  on  the 
Continent  of  Europe.  This  leadership  was  lost  as  one  of 
the  consequences  of  the  unfortunate  war  of  1870-71.  But 
the  credit  that  rightfully  belongs  to  Napoleon  III.  of  hav- 
ing won  for  France  the  position  of  political  preeminence 
which  it  held  during  his  reign  among  the  great  Powers, 
should  not  be  either  cynically  or  complacently  ignored  by 
those  who  have  most  keenly  felt  and  bitterly  bemoaned 
the  loss  of  this  leadership. 


CHAPTER   VI 

THE   FRANCO-GERMAN   WAR   OP    1870-71 

A  visit  to  Saint  Cloud — The  candidature  of  Prince  Leopold  of  Hohenzol- 
lern — The  Duke  de  Gramont — The  Emperor  not  inclined  to  war 
— The  opinion  of  the  Empress — The  Emperor's  bad  counselors 
— General  Lebceuf — An  incident — Public  feeling — I  propose  to 
establish  an  ambulance — The  service  it  subsequently  rendered — 
The  declaration  of  war — Enthusiasm  of  the  people; — The  excite- 
ment in  Paris — The  anxiety  of  the  Emperor — He  felt  that  France 
was  not  prepared  for  the  war — His  interest  in  the  army — The  con- 
dition sine  qud  non — Words  not  to  be  forgotten — The  departure  of 
the  troops — The  Empress  is  appointed  Regent — The  Emperor 
leaves  Saint  Cloud  for  Metz — Misgivings. 

IN  July,  1870,  I  invited  a  large  number  of  Ameri- 
cans, together  with  a  few  French  friends,  to  a 
garden-party  at  my  house  in  the  Avenue  de 
rimperatrice,  in  order  to  celebrate  with  them 
the  anniversary  of  the  establishment  of  our  Government; 
and  we  spent  the  long  afternoon  of  that  splendid  summer 
day  confraternally,  and  in  grateful  remembrance  of  the 
virtues  of  our  forefathers. 

Although  some  of  us  had  been  living  abroad  for  many 
years,  it  was  evident  that  not  one  of  our  number  had 
forgotten  how  much  he  owed  to  his  native  land;  that  if 
national  prejudices  had  disappeared,  the  love  of  home 
and  the  patriotism  of  all  had  not  diminished.  Indeed, 
many — too  many — of  my  fellow-countrymen  have  yet  to 
learn  that  the  flag  of  our  Union  is  never  so  beautiful  or  so 
glorious  as  when  raised  on  foreign  soil,  and  that  no  eyes 
are  so  quickly  moistened,  no  hearts  so  deeply  moved  by  the 
music  of  our  national  airs  and  melodies,  as  are  those  of 
"  expatriated  "  Americans. 

159 


160         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

The  Emperor,  who  was  one  of  the  most  observant  men 
of  his  time,  not  only  fully  appreciated  the  value  and 
significance  of  our  American  institutions,  but,  as  I  have 
already  had  occasion  to  remark,  took  a  great  interest  in 
all  matters  that  related  in  any  way  to  the  United  States. 
Having  seen  his  Majesty  a  few  days  previous  to  the  above- 
mentioned  gathering,  I  told  him  of  my  intention  to  cele- 
brate the  4th  of  July  by  inviting  to  my  house  those  of 
my  countrymen  who  were  residing  in  or  visiting  Paris; 
and  he  then  expressed  a  wish  to  learn,  after  the  fete 
was  over,  how  it  went  off.  I  was  so  greatly  pleased,  and, 
indeed,  so  proud  of  the  extraordinary  success  of  my  garden- 
party,  that,  mindful  of  his  Majesty's  request,  I  decided 
to  go,  on  the  morning  of  the  5th,  to  Saint  Cloud,  where 
the  Imperial  family  then  resided. 

It  was  between  six  and  seven  o'clock  when  I  left  my 
house,  but.  although  the  hour  was  rather  unusual  for 
such  a  visit,  I  knew  the  Emperor  would  be  up,  for  he 
was  an  early  riser;  and,  besides,  my  duties  obliged  me  to 
return  to  Paris  before  a  certain  hour. 

When  I  arrived  at  the  palace,  I  looked  up  at  the  bal- 
cony on  which  the  windows  of  the  Emperor's  dressing- 
room  opened,  for  I  expected  that  I  should  find  the  French 
monarch  standing  there,  as  he  had  the  habit  of  doing, 
smoking  his  cigarette  and  enjoying  the  morning  air.  But 
there  was  no  one  upon  the  balcony;  and  I  was  surprised 
to  see  the  windows  of  the  suite  of  rooms  which  the  Em- 
peror occupied  standing  wide  open — a  sure  sign  that  he 
was  not  present  in  that  part  of  the  palace,  and  that  he 
had  left  his  chambers  unusually  early. 

Hastening  up-stairs,  I  met  M.  Goutellard,  his  Majesty's 
vakt  de  chambre,  the  expression  of  whose  features  con- 
firmed my  apprehension  that  something  extraordinary  had 
taken  place.  On  inquiring,  I  was  informed  by  him  that 
the  Emperor  had  been  aroused  from  his  sleep  long  before 
daylight,  by  despatches  which  had  been  sent  to  him  from 


THE    FRANCO-GERMAN    WAR  161 

the  Foreign  Office,  and  which  seemed  to  have  made  upon 
his  Majesty  a  very  great  impression. 

While  I  was  still  wondering  what  could  possibly  have 
occurred,  the  Emperor  himself  appeared.  He  saluted  me 
cordially,  although  his  manner  betrayed  dissatisfaction 
and  annoyance.  Seeing  my  surprise,  he  directed  my  at- 
tention to  the  papers  which  he  held  in  his  hand,  and 
told  me  in  a  few  words  their  contents.  These  despatches 
related  to  the  candidature  of  the  Prince  of  Hohenzollern 
for  the  throne  of  Spain,  which  had  been  announced  by  the 
Press  the  day  before. 

The  Duke  de  Gramont,  the  French  Minister  for  Foreign 
Affairs,  from  whom  the  communications  had  come,  had 
reported  the  information  received  by  him  in  a  way  that 
made  it  seem  of  very  great  and  probably  undue  impor- 
tance, as  I  judged  from  the  Emperor's  extreme  gravity 
of  demeanor,  which  struck  me  forcibly  and  left  upon  my 
mind  a  painful  impression.  I  could  not  help  recalling 
at  the  time  the  remark  made  to  me  by  a  statesman  of 
European  reputation,  on  the  announcement  of  the  appoint- 
ment of  the  Duke  de  Gramont  to  the  office  of  Minister  for 
Foreign  Affairs.  "  Believe  me,  the  appointment  forebodes 
a  Franco-German  war." 

This  remark  was  based  upon  a  correct  estimate  of  the 
character  of  the  man.  But,  unfortunately,  the  Emperor 
placed  great  confidence  in  the  Duke;  and  I  could  easily 
see,  from  the  conversation  which  ensued  on  that  eventful 
morning,  that  although  in  the  judgment  of  his  Majesty 
a  war  with  Prussia  should  be  avoided,  if  possible,  the  in- 
fluence of  this  minister,  and  of  others,  was  so  strong  that 
these  rash  and  ill-advised  despatches  had  their  full  and 
intended  effect.  The  Emperor  was  persuaded  that  France 
had  really  been  insulted,  although  at  the  moment  there 
was  perhaps  no  sufficient  reason  for  such  an  interpretation 
of  the  Hohenzollern  candidature. 

The  Emperor,  while  I  was  still  present  at  the  palace, 


162         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

gave  orders  that  a  telegram  should  be  sent  to  Paris,  sum- 
moning the  Duke  de  Gramont  to  Saint  Cloud;  and  not- 
withstanding the  early  hour,  he  hastened  to  the  rooms  of 
the  Empress  to  inform  her  of  the  communications  to  which 
he  attributed  such  great  importance.  Everything  indi- 
cated the  approach  of  a  crisis;  and  I  left  Saint  Cloud 
with  many  misgivings,  because  I  greatly  feared  that  the 
bad  advisers  of  the  French  monarch  would  lead  him  to 
commit  mistakes  which  might  have  the  most  serious  con- 
sequences. 

On  the  same  day  the  Duke  de  Gramont  had,  as  I  heard 
from  good  authority,  a  long  conversation  with  his  sov- 
ereign, and  I  felt  sure  the  Duke  had  used  this  opportunity 
to  disturb  the  mind  of  the  Emperor — to  insist  upon  the 
gravity  of  the  incident,  and  the  necessity  of  meeting  it 
by  a  peremptory  declaration  on  the  part  of  the  Imperial 
Government.     The  result  proved  that  I  was  not  mistaken. 

On  the  evening  of  this  day  (July  5th)  Prince  de  Met- 
ternich,  the  Austrian  Ambassador,  having  gone  to  the  Min- 
istry of  Foreign  Affairs,  was  addressed  by  the  Duke  de 
Gramont  as  follows : 

"  I  am  very  glad  to  see  you.  I  have  just  come  from 
Saint  Cloud,  and  from  a  very  excited  meeting  of  the 
Council.  You  know  what  has  happened?  '  "I  suppose," 
said  the  Prince,  "  you  refer  to  the  Prussian  candidature." 
"  Ah,"  replied  the  Duke,  "it  is  a  great  affair  ";  and 
he  added  with  firmness,  and  at  the  same  time  with  emo- 
tion :  ' '  That  will  never  be ;  we  shall  oppose  it  by  every 
means,  even  were  a  war  with  Prussia  the  result. ' '  * 

When  the  news  of  the  candidature  of  Leopold,  Prince 
of  Hohenzollern,  first  became  known  to  the  French  people, 
few  of  them  considered  it  to  be  of  any  great  importance, 
because  almost  everybody  believed  that  a  diplomatic  note 

*  Despatch  of  Prince  de  Metternich  to  Count  de  Beust,  July  8,  1870. 


THE    FRANCO-GERMAN    WAR  163 

to  the  Government  of  Spain  would  be  sufficient  to  induce 
Marshal  Prim  to  withdraw  his  offer  of  the  throne  to  a 
relative  of  the  Prussian  King.  Such  a  solution  of  the 
question  would  have  been  the  most  natural. 

The  journals  that  had  been  devoted  to  the  Empire 
from  its  foundation,  saw  no  reason  for  taking  offense  at 
an  act  concerning  the  propriety  of  which  the  Spanish 
people,  in  fact,  were  the  sole  judges.  But  the  Duke  de 
Gramont,  with  others,  took  the  matter  liau  tragique,"  and 
in  the  Legislative  Assembly  and  through  the  Press  he 
strove  to  persuade  the  world  that  the  candidature  of  a 
Prussian  prince  was  an  insult  to  France,  and  that  the 
Government  of  the  King  of  Prussia  should  be  called  upon 
to  disown  this  nomination,  and  to  order  the  Prince  to 
withdraw  his  unauthorized  acceptance  of  it,  otherwise 
war  would  be  unavoidable. 

The  Cabinet  of  the  Emperor,  in  view  of  the  difficult 
situation  that  had  been  suddenly  created,  became  immedi- 
ately divided.  The  Duke  de  Gramont,  General  Lebceuf, 
Rigault  de  Genouilly,  and  Maurice  Richard  showed  an 
inclination  to  make  this  candidature  a  casus  belli;  on  the 
other  side,  Chevandier  de  Valdrome,  Louvet,  Segris,  and 
Plichon  threatened  to  lay  down  their  portfolios  in  case 
war  should  be  declared;  while  Ollivier,  de  Parien,  and 
Mege  wished  to  temporize. 

The  Emperor,  personally,  was  not  at  all  inclined  to 
precipitate  a  war  with  Germany.  Not  but  that  he  rec- 
ognized the  serious  character  of  the  situation  which  had 
been  created — that  it  would  be  impossible  for  his  Govern- 
ment to  permit  Prince  Leopold  to  accept  the  offer  made 
by  Marshal  Prim.  But  he  saw  no  necessity  for  making 
a  casus  belli  of  an  incident  which,  in  his  opinion,  could 
be  and  ought  to  be  disposed  of  by  intelligent  diplomacy. 
"  If  we  can  only  get  this  candidature  out  of  the  way," 
said  he,  "no  matter  how  it  is  done,  there  will  be  no  war." 
And  it  was  with  this  object  in  view  that,  without  con- 


164         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

suiting  his  ministers,  the  Emperor  requested  the  King  of 
Belgium  to  use  his  personal  influence  at  Sigmaringen  to 
obtain  a  withdrawal  of  Prince  Leopold's  candidature,  and 
thus  close  the  incident  and  preserve  the  peace  of  Europe. 
When,  on  the  12th  of  July,  the  Emperor  heard  that 
Prince  Antoine  had  telegraphed  to  Marshal  Prim  announ- 
cing the  withdrawal  in  his  name  of  his  son's  acceptance 
of  the  Spanish  crown,  he  sent  immediately  for  Signor 
Nigra  to  come  to  the  Tuileries.  Greeting  the  Italian  Am- 
bassador most  cordially  on  his  arrival,  the  Emperor  told 
him  the  news,  and  said:  "  This  despatch  of  Prince  An- 
toine means  peace.  I  have  requested  you  to  come  here 
for  the  purpose  of  having  you  telegraph  the  news  to  your 
Government.  I  have  not  had  time  to  write  to  the  King. 
I  know  very  well  that  public  opinion  is  so  excited  that 
it  would  have  preferred  war.  But  this  renunciation  is 
a  satisfactory  solution,  and  disposes,  at  least  for  the  pres- 
ent, of  every  pretext  for  hostilities. ' ' 

The  same  day  he  said  to  General  Bourbaki,  with  evi- 
dent delight,  "  It  will  not  be  necessary  for  you  to  get 
ready  your  war-gear,  for  every  cause  of  conflict  is  now 
removed. ' ' 

And  meeting  a  number  of  officers  shortly  afterward, 
he  said  before  them  all:  "  This  news  is  a  great  relief  to 
me.  I  am  very  glad  that  everything  has  ended  in  this 
way.     War  is  always  a  big  venture." 

At  one  of  the  very  last  Cabinet  councils,  while  Marshal 
Leboeuf  continued  to  assert  that  "  we  are  now  ready," 
and  that,  "  if  we  do  not  strike  immediately,  we  shall  lose 
an  opportunity  which  we  shall  never  have  again,"  the 
Emperor  proposed  that  the  whole  subject  of  the  contro- 
versy should  be  submitted  to  arbitration.  And  this  prop- 
osition was  accepted — but  too  late. 

Lebceuf  had  issued  his  orders  for  mobilizing  the  army; 
and  the  falsified  despatch  published  that  very  day  in  the 
North   German   Gazette,  by  the   direction  of  Count  Bis- 


THE    FRANCO-GERMAN    WAR  165 

marck,  produced  its  intended  effect — in  the  picturesque 
language  of  its  author,  "  the  effect  of  a  red  flag  on  the 
French  bull."  In  a  word,  peace  was  no  longer  possible.* 
Ever  since  1866  the  Emperor  had  known  only  too  well  the 
completeness  of  the  German  military  organization,  and 
the  feeling  of  hostility  towards  everything  French  that 
prevailed  at  Berlin.  General  Ducrot,  who  was  in  command 
at  Strasbourg,  had  kept  him  well  informed  upon  these 
subjects  in  letters  addressed  to  him  personally.  He  had 
read  the  comprehensive  and  precise  reports  of  Colonel 
Stoffel,  the  very  able  French  military  attache  at  the  Prus- 
sian Court.  He  had  listened  to  what  some  of  the  cleverest 
observers  and  interpreters  of  German  opinion  had  to  say 
on  these  subjects.  But  even  he  had  been  nearly  all  the 
while  optimistic;  for  he  believed  the  destiny  of  France, 
and  his  own  destiny,  to  be  in  his  own  keeping. 

When  the  Countess  de  Pourtales,  who  had  been  visiting 
relatives  in  Prussia  not  long  before  the  war,  said  to  him, 
'  If  you  only  knew  what  is  said  there,  and  could  only 
see  what  is  being  done  on  every  side  to  be  ready  for 
a  war  that  is  imminent!  "  the  Emperor,  smiling  at  what 
he  evidently  regarded  as  an  exaggerated  portrayal  of  the 
actual  facts,  replied:  "  Through  what  clouds  have  those 
fine  eyes  been  looking  at  the  future?  You  forget,  my 
dear  Countess,  that  to  have  a  war  requires  the  consent 
of  two.  And  I  don't  wish  it!  "  This  was  the  Emperor's 
greatest  mistake.  In  July,  1870,  his  consent  was  not 
necessary.  The  people  were  then  sovereign.  When  he 
discovered  this,  the  gravity  of  the  situation  began  to  bear 
down  upon  him. 

In  his  reply  to  M.  Schneider,  who,  immediately  after 
the  declaration  of  war,  addressed  him  on  behalf  of  the 
Legislative  Assembly,  and  assured  his  Majesty  that  he 
would  have  the  patriotic  cooperation  of  this  body,  the  Em- 


*  See  Appendix  V. 


166         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

peror  said:  "  The  real  author  of  this  war  is  not  the 
one  who  has  declared  it,  but  he  who  has  made  it  necessary. 
I  have  done  all  that  I  could  to  prevent  it;  but  the  whole 
nation  by  an  irresistible  impulse  has  dictated  my  resolu- 
tion." And  it  should  not  fail  to  be  observed  that  he 
justified  himself  in  yielding  to  this  dictation  by  affirming 
that  the  object  he  hoped  to  gain  was  not  glory,  nor  na- 
tional aggrandisement,  but  the  realization  of  those  hu- 
manitarian sentiments  and  ideals  which  formed  the  bed- 
rock of  his  whole  political  philosophy — the  peace  of  the 
world  and  a  general  disarmament.  "  We  seek,"  said  he, 
"  a  durable  peace,  and  to  put  a  stop  to  that  precarious 
state  in  which  all  the  nations  are  squandering  their  re- 
sources in  arming  themselves  one  against  the  other. ' '  * 

Having  frequent  occasion  to  see  the  Emperor  between 
the  5th  and  15th  of  July,  I  became  convinced  that  he  lis- 
tened only  reluctantly  to  those  who  tried  to  prove  to  him 
that  a  Franco-German  conflict  had  become  unavoidable; 
and  I  am  certain  that  when  he  at  last  yielded,  and  gave 
his  consent  that  the  Legislative  Body  should  be  called 
upon  to  "  take  immediately  the  necessary  measures  for 
the  protection  of  the  interests,  the  security,  and  the  honor 
of  France,"  it  was  not  done  heedlessly,  but  with  a  full 
sense  of  his  own  responsibilities,  and  with  a  clear  under- 
standing of  the  possible  consequences  of  a  war  with  Ger- 
many. He  was  perfectly  aware  that  he  and  King  William 
would  not  engage  in  a  war  on  equal  terms;  that  the  King 

*  Nous  ne  faisons  pas  la  guerre  a  l'Allemagne,  dont  nous  respectons 
l'independance.  Nous  faisons  des  voeux  pour  que  les  peuples  qui  eom- 
posent  la  grand  nationality  germanique  disposent  librement  de  leur 
destinies. 

Quant  a  nous,  nous  reclamons  l'£tablissement  d'un  etat  de  choses 
qui  garantisse  notre  s^curite  et  assure  l'avenir.  Nous  voulons  eon- 
qu6rir  une  paix  durable,  bas£e  sur  les  vrais  interets  des  peuples,  et 
faire  cesser  cet  etat  pr^caire  ou  toutes  les  nations  emploient  leurs  res- 
sources  a  s'armer  les  uns  contre  les  autres." — Proclamation  de  I'Empereur, 
Juillet  29,  1870. 


THE    FRANCO-GERMAN    WAR  167 

might  lose  many  battles,   and  keep  his  crown;  but  that 
for  him  defeat  would  be  destruction. 

The  Empress  Eugenie  also  had  more  than  once  ex-  1 
pressed,  in  my  presence,  her  opinion  that  a  war  with 
Germany  was  not  by  any  means  desirable;  and  although 
the  enemies  of  the  Napoleonic  dynasty  have  never  ceased 
to  maintain  that  it  was  the  Empress  who  was  the  most 
insistent  in  persuading  the  Emperor  to  enter  upon  that 
disastrous  campaign,  I  believe  that  she,  on  the  contrary, 
was  not  only  disposed  to  do,  but  as  a  matter  of  fact  did 
do,  all  in  her  power  to  preserve  peace,  so  long  as  peace 
was  possible.*  What  her  real  opinions  were  with  respect 
to  this  war  are  set  forth  in  the  following  note  which  she 
sent  me  soon  after  she  arrived  in  England.  It  is  in  her 
own  handwriting,  and  is  now  published  for  the  first  time. 

TRANSLATION 

"It  is  said  that  the  war  was  desired  and  made  in  a 
dynastic  interest.  Common  sense  only  is  needed  to  prove 
the  contrary.  The  Plebiscitum  had  given  great  strength 
to  the  Empire;  the  war  could  add  nothing  to  it.  Were 
it  fortunate,  it  might  give  glory,  doubtless;  but  if  un- 
fortunate, it  might  overthrow  the  dynasty.  What  man 
in  his  senses  would  stake  the  existence  of  his  country,  and 
his  own  life,  on  a  toss-up?  No;  the  war  was  neither  de- 
sired nor  sought  by  the  Emperor;  it  was  submitted  to. 
After  the  reforms  of  the  2d  of  January,  parties  acquired 

*  The  expression  "  c'est  ma  guerre,"  attributed  to  the  Empress  by 
Gambetta,  who  gave  as  his  authority  M.  Le  Sourd,  the  first  secretary 
of  the  French  embassy  at  Berlin,  is  a  miserable  fiction.  M.  Le  Sourd  has 
denied  over  his  own  signature  that  he  ever  heard  the  Empress  utter 
these  words,  or  that  he  had  ever  repeated  them.  The  phrase  belongs 
to  a  notorious  class  of  alleged  sayings  that  it  is  almost  impossible  to 
successfully  contradict,  for  the  very  obvious,  if  paradoxical,  reason 
that,  before  they  are  heard  of,  or  even  exist,  they  are  believed  to  be 
true  by  most  of  those  persons  who  believe  in  them  at  all. 


168         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

in  France  new  power;  they  urged  the  Government  on  to 
war  by  manifestations  and  through  the  Press.  Since  1866 
the  Opposition  had  never  ceased  to  say  to  France  that 
she  was  humiliated.  Then — in  1866 — the  personal  influence 
of  the  Emperor  alone  was  able  to  avoid  the  conflict.  But 
in  1870  he  was  overridden  (deborde)  having  no  longer  the 
power  in  his  hands. ' ' 

Unfortunately,  at  this  most  critical  moment,  when  prej- 
udice and  passion  were  creating  public  opinion  and  de- 
termining the  national  will,  the  advisers  of  the  Emperor 
were  neither  intelligent  enough  nor  conscientious  enough 
to  give  him  such  counsel  as  would  have  been  of  service 
to  their  country.  The  Minister  of  War,  especially,  Mar- 
shal Leboeuf,  an  impetuous  and  indiscreet  man,  was  guilty 
of  having  greatly  deceived  not  only  his  sovereign,  but 
the  public,  and  perhaps  himself,  in  regard  to  the  real 
strength  and  efficiency  of  the  French  army,  and  its  chances 
of  success  in  case  of  a  contest  with  Prussia.  He  told 
every  one  who  came  in  contact  with  him  that  the  French 
army  was  in  an  excellent  condition,  and  that  everything 
was  prepared  for  immediate  action.  "  I  am  ready,"  he 
said.  '  Never  have  we  been  so  ready;  never  shall  we  be 
so  ready;  the  war,  sooner  or  later,  is  inevitable.  Let  us 
accept  it. ' '  An  expression  of  his  of  a  similar  kind,  namely, 
' '  Not  even  a  gaiter-button  is  wanting, ' '  has  become  known 
all  over  Europe.  Unfortunately,  there  were  many  persons 
who  could  not  see  how  exaggerated  were  these  assertions  of 
the  Minister,  and  who  therefore  believed  in  their  correctness. 

Marshal  Lebceuf  not  only  gave  the  Emperor  a  wrong 
impression  as  to  the  general  efficiency  of  the  French  army, 
but  he  also  made  averments  concerning  the  armies  and 
military  resources  of  Germany,  of  which  he  knew  but 
little,  that  were  entirely  erroneous. 

Having  myself  traveled,  at  various  times  previous  to 
1870,  in  different  parts  of  Prussia,  and  also  in  Southern 


THE    FRANCO-GERMAN    WAR  169 


Germany,  I  had  everywhere  observed  with  surprise  the 
large  place  the  army  held  in  the  daily  life  of  the  people. 
There  was  no  town,  no  village,  where  military  exercises 
could  not  be  witnessed;  nor  could  I  fail  to  remark  the 
splendid  physical  condition  of  the  German  soldier,  how 
perfectly  he  had  been  trained,  and  how  admirably  pre- 
pared he  was  to  face  the  contingency  of  war.  Indeed, 
every  one  who  had  visited  Germany  shortly  before  the  war 
of  1870,  and  who  was  not  blind  to  the  truth  of  things, 
received  the  same  impression  as  myself;  and  I  could  not 
refrain  from  communicating  my  views  to  the  Emperor, 
during  some  of  the  conversations  which  I  had  with  him. 

A  few  days  before  the  declaration  of  war,  while  with 
the  Emperor  in  his  cabinet,  reference  having  been  made 
to  the  Prussian  military  organization,  I  ventured  to  re- 
mark that,  in  my  opinion,  Germany  would  prove  to  be  a 
very  formidable  antagonist  to  meet.  At  the  request  of 
his  Majesty,  I  repeated  this  opinion  to  Marshal  Lebceuf, 
who  just  at  this  moment  joined  us.  The  Marshal  listened 
to  my  words,  but  seemed  to  doubt  their  truth,  and  gave 
me  to  understand  that  he  had  quite  different  views  with 
regard  to  Germany.  I  asked  him  if  these  views  were 
based  upon  personal  investigation;  if  he  was  acquainted 
with  those  countries  which  seemed  of  so  little  importance 
to  him,  and  whether  he  had  been  himself  in  Germany. 
His  answer  was  that  he  had  been  in  Germany,  but  that 
he  had  not  seen  much  of  it.  I  could  not  help  retorting 
courteously,  that  he  had  possibly  made  his  studies  of 
Germany  in  Wiesbaden,  Homburg,  and  Baden-Baden. 
While  laughing  at  my  remark,  he  acknowledged  that,  dur- 
ing his  sojourns  in  Germany,  he  had  generally  limited 
his  visits  to  the  places  mentioned,  and  to  the  borders  of 
the  Rhine.  Of  this  I  was  persuaded  in  advance.  Notwith- 
standing, however,  his  insufficient  information  with  respect 
to  the  actual  state  of  things  in  the  enemy's  country,  the 
French  Minister  of  War  was  foolhardy  enough  to  speak 


It 


170         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

to  his  sovereign  of  a  march  to  Berlin  and  the  conquest 
of  Germany,  with  an  assurance  which  would  not  admit  of 
any  possible  doubt. 

After  having  breakfasted  at  the  Palace  of  Saint  Cloud 
that  morning  with  his  Majesty,  Marshal  Lebceuf,  and  sev- 
eral other  officials  of  the  Empire,  the  Marshal  and  I  de- 
scended the  stairs  together  and  passed  out  into  the  court, 
where,  before  he  entered  his  carriage,  an  incident  happened 
which  I  shall  never  forget,  as  what  the  Minister  on  this 
occasion  said  was  so  characteristic  of  the  hyperbolic  ex- 
pressions used  by  him  when  speaking  of  the  French  army. 

In  front  of  the  main  entrance  of  the  palace  there  stood 
a  sentry  on  guard,  who  presented  arms  when  the  Marshal 
approached.  The  latter,  evidently  not  noticing  the  person 
of  the  soldier,  but  carried  away  by  the  sight  of  the  uni- 
form, laid  his  hand  upon  the  shoulder  of  the  sentry,  and, 
with  his  usual  military  enthusiasm,  proudly  exclaimed: 
"  With  such  soldiers  as  this  France  is  invincible!  " 

How  ridiculous  the  exclamation  was,  and  how  difficult 
it  was  for  me  to  suppress  a  smile,  one  may  judge  on  learn- 
ing that  the  sentry  thus  honored  by  his  general  was  a 
young  fellow  far  below  the  average  height,  and  apparently 
destitute  of  every  physical  quality  requisite  to  make  a 
good  soldier. 

The  day,  however,  was  not  far  off  when  the  over-con- 
fident Marshal  had  brought  home  to  him  the  full  weight 
of  his  personal  responsibility  for  the  disasters  that  over- 
whelmed his  ill-conditioned  and  insufficiently  equipped 
army.  After  the  war,  having  retired  to  his  estate  in  the 
country,  he  disappeared  from  view  only  to  reappear  in 
public  as  a  witness  before  a  parliamentary  commission; 
and  again,  for  the  last  time,  on  the  12th  of  January,  1873, 
at  Chislehurst,  when  standing  before  the  body  of  his  Em- 
peror, dethroned,  and  now  rigid  in  death,  he  fell  upon  his 
knees,  and  sobbing  violently,  cried  out  in  a  voice  choked 
with  grief,  "  Oh,  pardon  me,  Sire!  " 


THE    FRANCO-GERMAN    WAR  171 

With  Marshal  Leboeuf  as  Minister  of  War,  and  with 
the  Duke  de  Gramont  as  Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs,  the 
destinies  of  France  were  in  the  keeping  of  men  altogether 
incompetent  to  deal  with  a  dangerous  political  situation — 
one  from  which  no  successful  issue  could  be  found  without 
knowledge  and  the  exercise  of  wisdom  and  tact.  This  was 
the  thought  which  at  that  moment  crossed  my  mind;  and 
it  is  my  belief  that,  in  the  year  1870,  this  thought  was 
shared  by  many  unprejudiced  persons. 

The  Duke  de  Gramont  insisted  that  an  excellent  op- 
portunity had  arrived  to  avenge  France  for  having  been 
deceived  by  Prussia  after  the  battle  of  Sadowa;  and  the 
result  was  that,  from  the  5th  of  July  until  the  15th  of  that 
month,  there  passed  no  day  on  which  some  blunder  was 
not  committed  by  the  Foreign  Office.  Telegram  after  tele- 
gram was  sent  to  M.  Benedetti,  the  French  Ambassador 
at  the  Prussian  Court,  urging  him,  against  his  own  good 
judgment,  to  make  proposals  to  the  Prussian  King  which, 
as  could  be  foreseen,  were  not  likely  to  be  accepted.  And 
the  manner  in  which  the  Duke  de  Gramont,  unwittingly 
and  passionately  playing  into  the  hands  of  Count  Bis- 
marck, who  cunningly  led  the  game,  finally  succeeded  in 
precipitating  the  rupture  between  France  and  Germany, 
is  now  well  known. 

I  recognize  that  it  is  extremely  easy  to  criticize  acts 
in  the  light  of  subsequent  events.  Had  the  Duke  de  Gra- 
mont known  before  the  declaration  of  war  what  everybody 
knew  very  soon  after  it,  his  policy  would  certainly  not 
have  been  a  bellicose  one.  And  it  is  just  as  certain  that 
the  particular  indiscretions  of  the  Duke's  policy  would 
have  been  less  remarked,  if  discovered  at  all,  had  the 
French  met  with  the  success  they  all  confidently  expected 
at  the  beginning  of  the  war,  or  had  the  honors  of  battle 
been  nearly  equally  divided  between  the  combatants — in 
a  word,  had  his  Government  possessed  sufficient  military 
strength  to  support  him.     He  fully  supposed — and  he  had 


TO         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

reason  to  suppose — that  the  armies  of  France  were  not 
inferior  to  those  of  Prussia,  or  even  of  any  probable  Ger- 
man combination.  To  use  his  own  words :  "  I  resigned 
myself  to  the  war;  I  made  it  (it  was  my  only  mistake) 
with  absolute  confidence  of  victory.  For  twenty  years  I 
have  represented  my  country  abroad;  I  believed  in  its 
greatness,  in  its  strength,  and  in  its  military  virtues,  with 
almost  as  much  confidence  as  I  believe  in  my  holy  religion. 
What  did  I  find  on  coming  to  Paris?  A  confidence  equal 
to  my  own.  The  men  who  were  the  most  competent  in 
the  Senate  and  in  the  Legislative  Assembly  believed,  all 
of  them,  that  France  was  invincible.  And  if  a  few  solitary 
voices  formulated  a  doubt  or  a  fear,  they  failed  to  do  it 
in  season.  I  do  not  intend  to  say  by  these  words  that 
it  was  a  blind  confidence  in  victory  that  inspired  at  the 
last  hour  the  resolution  of  the  Government.  No,  the  war 
was  inevitable ;  it  was  declared  at  Berlin,  and  in  the  Prus- 
sian determination  there  entered  as  its  principal  element 
an  exact  knowledge  of  the  military  forces  of  France  and 
of  the  military  forces  of  Germany. ' '  *  The  confidence  of 
the  Duke  in  the  "  invincibility  "  of  France  was  but  the 
natural  consequence  of  the  representations  and  assurances 
of  Marshals  Niel  and  Lebceuf,  made  without  an  exact 
knowledge  of  the  military  forces  of  either  France  or 
Germany. 

It  is  but  just,  moreover,  to  remember  the  excited  state 
of  public  feeling  in  France  at  this  time,  that  it  had  a 
powerful  influence  on  the  Government,  and  that  the  action 
of  the  Duke  was  taken  in  compliance  with  the  demands 
of  the  representatives  of  the  people,  and  expressed  the 
sovereign  will  of  the  nation. 

Singular  as  it  may  seem,  the  Radical  journals  from  the 
very  beginning  exceeded,  if  possible,  in  the  violence  of 
their  language,  those  attached  to  the  Government. 

*  "Enquete  Parlementaire,"  tome  i,  p.  108. 


THE    FRANCO-GERMAN    WAR  173 

The  Temps  said:  "  Should  a  Prussian  prince  be  placed 
upon  the  throne  of  Spain,  we  should  be  thrown  back  to 
the  times  not  of  Henry  IV.,  but  of  Francis  I." 

The  Steele  declared  that  "  France,  surrounded  on 
every  side  by  Prussia,  or  States  subject  to  its  influence, 
would  be  reduced  to  that  isolated  situation  which  led 
our  ancient  monarchy  to  those  long  wars  with  the  House 
of  Austria.  The  situation  would  be  much  worse  than 
immediately  after  the  treaties  of  1815." 

Francois  Victor  Hugo  cried  out  in  the  Rappel:  "  The 
Hohenzollerns  have  reached  such  audacity  that  they  aspire 
to  dominate  Europe.  It  will  be  for  our  time  an  eternal 
humiliation  that  this  project  has  been,  we  will  not  say 
undertaken,  but  only  conceived." 

And  such  things  were  said  before  the  candidature  of 
Prince  Leopold  had  been  officially  announced  by  the  Gov- 
ernment. 

Stirred  by  these  explosive  manifestations  of  popular 
feeling,  pushed  on  by  the  wild  clamor  that  arose  on  every 
side,  the  Government,  on  the  6th  of  July,  declared  before 
the  Chamber  its  intention  to  oppose  the  placing  of  the 
Spanish  crown  on  the  head  of  a  Hohenzollern  prince.  This 
announcement  of  the  Government's  policy  was  unani- 
mously approved  by  the  Press. 

Perhaps  the  best  evidence  of  the  extraordinary  state 
of  exasperation  and  passion  into  which  Frenchmen  man- 
aged in  the  course  of  a  few  days  to  mutually  and  foolishly 
excite  themselves,  is  to  be  found  in  the  effect  on  the  peo- 
ple of  the  announcement  made  by  M.  Ollivier,  on  the  12th 
of  July,  that  Prince  Antoine  of  Hohenzollern  had,  on 
account  of  the  opposition  to  the  candidature  of  his  son, 
withdrawn  the  acceptance  given.  Foreshadowing,  as  this 
act  did,  a  pacific  solution  of  a  most  difficult  and  dangerous 
question,  one  might  presume  that  it  would  have  been  wel- 
comed by  the  whole  nation  with  intense  satisfaction.  On 
the  contrary,  it  was  received  by  the  people  with  jeers,  and 
13 


174         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

among  tlie  crowds  assembled  in  front  of  the  cafes  along 
the  line  of  the  boulevards,  ' '  La  depeche  du  pere  Antoine  ' ' 
was  repeated  from  one  to  another  as  the  joke  of  the  day, 
or  only  to  provoke  a  fresh  explosion  of  rage. 

A  Government  journal  having  affirmed  that  "  it  is  all 
we  ask;  it  is  a  great  victory,  which  has  not  cost  a  tear, 
not  a  drop  of  blood, ' '  the  Presse  answered :  ' '  This  victory 
will  be  for  us  the  worst  of  humiliations  and  the  last  of 
perils."  And  the  Opinion  Nationale  wrote:  "  Since  yes- 
terday, all  the  journals  friendly  to  the  Government  are 
eagerly  repeating  that  peace  has  been  made,  that  the  quar- 
rel has  come  to  an  end,  and  that  we  ought  to  rejoice. 
Nevertheless,  no  one  is  happy;  we  are  sad,  disappointed, 
and  anxious." 

The  Soir  said :  ' '  Were  war  declared  to-day,  the  ap- 
plause would  shake  the  National  Assembly.  If  war  is  not 
declared,  it  will  be  something  more  than  a  deception — it 
will  be  an  immense  burst  of  laughter,  and  the  Cabinet  will 
be  drowned  in  its  own  silence." 

The  Gaulois  wrote:  "  A  great  nation  is  stupefied. 
Hearts  are  bursting;  the  masses,  ten  times  more  intelli- 
gent than  our  rulers,  know  that  this  '  pacific  victory  '  will 
cost  France  more  blood  than  pitched  battles." 

The  National  said :  "  It  is  a  peace  of  ill-omen,  the  peace 
that  has  been  talked  about  for  the  last  twenty-four  hours." 

And  M.  Emile  de  Girardin  shouted  out,  in  the  midst 
of  the  general  uproar:  "  If  the  Prussians  refuse  to  fight, 
we  will  force  them  to  cross  the  Rhine  and  to  clear  out 
from  the  left  bank,  by  clubbing  their  backs  with  the  butts 
of  our  muskets." 

When,  finally,  on  the  15th  of  July,  the  Legislative  As- 
sembly was  asked  by  the  Government  whether  it  should 
be  war  or  peace,  out  of  257  votes,  247  were  for  war  and 
but  ten  for  peace.  And  this  result,  on  being  announced, 
was  followed  by  indescribable  manifestations  of  en- 
thusiasm. 


THE    FRANCO-GERMAN    WAR  175 

Nothing  could  more  clearly  indicate  the  general  in- 
fatuation with  respect  to  the  issue  of  a  war  between  France 
and  Germany  than  that  the  very  opponents  of  the  Gov- 
ernment in  the  Legislative  Chamber  expected  nothing  less 
than  the  final  triumph  of  the  French  arms.  Indeed,  it 
was  to  prevent  this,  and  what  seemed  to  them  its  inevitable 
consequence — the  consolidation  of  the  Empire — that  they 
refused  to  be  convinced  that  there  was  a  casus  belli;  but 
after  having  thrown  all  the  responsibility  for  the  situation 
upon  the  Government,  with  few  exceptions  they  voted  with 
the  majority  for  war;  for  they,  too,  were  unable  to  with- 
stand the  passionate  appeals  that  came  from  the  press  and/ 
the  people. 

So  deep  was  the  feeling  of  indignation  at  the  conduct 
of  the  Cabinet  of  Berlin,  so  universal  the  demand  for 
vengeance,  that  Lord  Lyons,  in  a  despatch  to  Lord  Gran- 
ville, said: 

"  It  is  doubtful  if  the  Government  would  have  been 
able  to  resist  the  cry  raised  for  the  war,  even  had  it  been 
able  to  announce  a  decided  diplomatic  success." 

The  statement  made  in  the  French  Legislative  Chamber 
by  the  Duke  de  Gramont,  on  the  15th  of  July,  1870,  was 
virtually  a  declaration  of  war;  it  then  became  evident  to 
the  world  that  hostilities  between  France  and  Germany 
had  become  unavoidable. 

Those  who  were  personally  interested  in  the  success  of 
either  the  one  or  the  other  nation  thought,  of  course,  of 
little  else  but  the  desired  victory;  but  those  who,  being 
neither  Germans  nor  Frenchmen,  were  uninfluenced  by 
patriotic  sentiment,  or  national  prepossessions  and  prej- 
udices, at  once  foresaw  the  great  sacrifice  of  life  and  the 
fearful  suffering  which  a  war  would  cause  both  to  the 
victor  and  the  vanquished,  and  recognized  how  deplorable, 
from  a  humane  point  of  view,  this  conflict  must  be. 
Happily,  there  were  not  a  few  among  them  who  felt  it  to 


176         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

be  a  duty  to  endeavor  to  mitigate  its  sad  and  painful  con- 
sequences. 

It  was  for  this  reason  that  I  determined  to  render 
assistance,  in  every  way  in  my  power,  to  the  sufferers  of 
both  armies,  although  my  heart  leaned  naturally  towards 
the  French;  for  France  had  been  my  home  for  many 
years. 

I  desired  also  to  avail  myself  of  the  opportunity  which 
a  war  would  offer  of  introducing  the  improved  methods 
of  transporting  and  treating  the  wounded  and  taking 
care  of  the  sick  which  had  been  adopted  in  my  own  coun- 
try during  the  great  war  of  1861-65,  and  which  I  had 
been  laboring  for  many  years  to  bring  to  the  knowledge 
of  the  friends  of  army  medical  reform  throughout  the 
world. 

In  the  year  1867,  during  the  Exposition  Universelle  in 
Paris,  I  exhibited  a  number  of  ambulance  wagons,  and 
models  of  field  and  post  hospitals,  together  with  a  collec- 
tion of  the  excellent  hospital  and  sanitary  appliances 
which,  after  careful  trial,  had  been  adopted  in  the  United 
States  Army,  or  been  used  or  approved  by  the  United 
States  Sanitary  Commission.  To  this  exhibit  was  awarded 
one  of  the  eight  grand  prizes  given  at  that  exhibition. 
It  was  the  only  ' '  Grand  Prix  ' '  obtained  by  an  American. 
Indeed,  I  found  that  my  endeavors  to  make  this  apparatus 
known  to  European  surgeons  and  army  officials,  as 
well  as  to  introduce  in  camps  the  new  methods  used  for 
the  hospitalization  and  treatment  of  the  sick  and  wounded, 
were  greatly  appreciated  in  military  circles.  At  that 
time,  however,  no  one  imagined  how  soon  there  would 
be  an  opportunity  in  Europe  to  make  a  practical  test 
of  the  value  of  these  new  appliances  and  methods. 

The  Emperor,  after  a  visit  to  this  exhibit,  which  in- 
terested him  greatly,  said  to  me  that  he  hoped  the  day 
was  very  far  off  when  they  should  have  occasion  in  France 
to  make  use  of  these  interesting  inventions. 


THE    FRANCO-GERMAN    WAR  177 

Not  only  had  the  time  now  suddenly  arrived  for  or- 
ganizing assistance  in  behalf  of  the  victims  of  war,  but 
there  were  serious  reasons  for  believing  that  it  would  be 
found  necessary,  very  soon,  to  provide  accommodation  for 
the  treatment  of  the  wounded  in  the  capital  itself  of  the 
French  Empire. 

I  proposed,  therefore,  to  establish  an  ambulance  in 
Paris,  where  the  wounded  could  be  treated,  so  far  as 
possible,  under  conditions  similar  to  those  which  had  been 
attended  with  the  best  results  in  the  United  States — in 
short,  to  give  a  practical  demonstration  of  the  great  ad- 
vantages to  be  secured  by  making  extensive  use  of  field 
hospitals  "  under  canvas,"  instead  of  crowding  the 
wounded  into  churches  and  public  and  private  buildings, 
as  has  been  the  custom  in  all  armies  and  in  all  times. 

The  apparatus  which  I  had  shown  during  the  Exposi- 
tion, and  which  I  still  had  in  my  possession,  formed  a 
good  basis  for  the  establishment  of  such  an  ambulance; 
but  as  there  was  much  wanting  to  complete  it,  I  undertook 
to  procure  more  tents  and  additional  medical  and  surgical 
supplies  from  the  United  States. 

On  the  18th  of  July  a  meeting  of  Americans  was  held 
at  my  office,  for  the  purpose  of  considering  what  we,  rep- 
resenting the  Paris  American  colony,  and  also  to  a  cer- 
tain extent  our  countrymen  at  home,  ought  to  do  in 
view  of  the  approaching  conflict  and  its  impending  and 
fearful  consequences.  About  twenty-five  persons  were 
present. 

At  this  meeting  I  stated  that  while,  by  contributions 
of  money,  we  might  furnish  the  means  of  relieving  much 
suffering,  and  at  the  same  time  give  expression  to  our 
feelings  of  humanity  and  international  sympathy,  it 
seemed  to  me  that  the  most  effective  way  in  which  we  could 
use  our  money  and  give  our  assistance,  under  the  existing 
circumstances,  would  be  by  establishing,  in  connection  with 
the  French  and  German  armies,  working  examples  of  the 


178         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

American  system  of  taking  care  of  sick  and  wounded 
soldiers;  and  I  insisted  that  such  an  addition  to  the  sani- 
tary knowledge  of  Europe  would  be  far  more  valuable 
than  any  mere  donation  of  material  aid  to  either  French 
or  German  ambulances,  though  it  were  possible  to  collect 
thousands  of  dollars  for  that  purpose. 

All  of  the  gentlemen  present  at  that  meeting  agreed 
with  me,  and  promised  me  their  cooperation  in  establishing 
one  or  more  field-hospitals  with  the  necessary  accessories, 
to  be  constructed  and  managed  in  accordance  with  those 
principles  which  had  received  the  sanction  of  American 
experience  as  being  most  suitable  in  war.  A  committee 
was  thereupon  appointed,  under  my  presidency,  with  full 
power  to  carry  on  the  work  of  "  relieving  the  wants  and 
sufferings  of  soldiers  during  the  war  which  is  now  antici- 
pated between  France  and  Prussia." 

I  may  remark,  en  passant,  that  such  an  ambulance  was 
subsequently  established  in  Paris,  and  that  a  large  number 
of  wounded  were  there  taken  care  of  during  the  siege,  in 
the  winter  of  1870-71,  in  a  way  that  realized  in  every  re- 
spect my  intentions  and  my  hopes.  It  attracted  the  atten- 
tion not  only  of  the  surgeons  connected  with  the  Service  de 
Sante  and  the  military  hospitals,  but  of  the  principal 
officers  of  the  army  and  the  members  of  the  Government. 
The  surgical  results  reported  by  those  in  charge  of  this 
ambulance  were  surprising.  The  Press  was  filled  with 
commendatory  notices  concerning  its  organization  and  man- 
agement. Other  ambulances  were  opened  in  Paris  by  the 
French  Societe  de  Secours  aux  Blesses,  in  which  the  same 
system  and  the  same  appliances  were  closely  copied.  And 
the  Government  of  the  Defense  Nationale,  at  the  end  of 
the  siege,  as  an  expression  of  its  appreciation  of  the  ser- 
vices rendered  by  this  model  American  field-hospital,  con- 
ferred the  decoration  of  the  Legion  of  Honor  on  no  less 
than  seventeen  Americans,  members  of  the  staff  employed 
in  the  general  direction  of  the  establishment,  or  in  the 


THE    FRANCO-GERMAN    WAR  179 


service  of  its  several  departments,  and  raised  me  to  the 
rank  of  Commander  in  the  same  order.* 

While  preparations  were  being  made  for  the  execu- 
tion of  my  plan  for  ameliorating  the  condition  of  the 
sick  and  wounded  during  the  impending  war,  the  po- 
litical events  became  from  day  to  day  more  important 
and  more  exciting. 

The  Declaration  of  War  created  the  greatest  enthusi- 
asm all  over  France,  and  the  Press  was  nearly  unanimous 
in  applauding  the  resolution  taken  by  the  Government 
and  by  the  Legislative  Assembly.  Even  the  most  radical 
journals  proclaimed  their  approbation  of  the  decision  of 
the  Ministry.  Some  extracts  from  the  papers  of  the  Oppo- 
sition will  be  sufficient  to  prove  this  assertion. 

The  Univers  said:  "  The  war  in  which  we  are  about 
to  engage  is,  on  the  part  of  France,  neither  the  work 
of  a  party  nor  an  adventure  imposed  by  the  sovereign. 
The  nation  undertakes  it  willingly.  It  is  not  the  Em- 
peror Napoleon  III.  who  of  his  own  accord  has  declared 
this  war.     It  is  we  who  have  forced  his  hand." 

The  Liberie  said:  "For  several  days  we  have  not 
ceased  to  call  for  war.  We  have  asked  for  it  in  all  our 
prayers.  The  future,  and  the  near  future,  will  tell 
whether  we  have  been  right  or  wrong.  Our  soul  and 
our  conscience  tell  us  that,  in  acting  thus  and  in  de- 
manding war,  we  have  obeyed  the  duty  which,  outside 
of  all  other  considerations,  the  dignity  and  the  honor  of 
France  impose  upon  us." 

The  Monde  wrote :  ' '  The  Chamber  was  stupefied  when 
it  saw  some  of  its  members — let  us  hasten  to  say  a  feeble 
minority,  however — protest  by  their  votes  against  the 
war,  the  most  just,  the  most  necessary,  and  the  most 
opportune.     .     .     .     The   Keeper   of  the   Seals  expressed 


*  "History  of  the  American  Ambulance,"  by  Thomas  W.  Evans. 
London:  Sampson,  Low,  Marston,  Low  &  Si  arle,  L873,. 


180         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

the  sentiment  of  France  when  he  showed  astonishment 
on  account  of  the  long  debates  on  a  question  which  is  so 
clear,  and  when  he  called  upon  the  Chamber  to  pass  from 
words  to  acts.  Yes,  this  mourning  which  has  already 
commenced,  these  tears  which  are  already  shed,  all  this 
has  become  a  necessary  and  unavoidable  evil.  .  .  . 
The  Government  of  the  Emperor  recognized  this  political 
truth  when  it  yielded  nobly,  admirably,  to  the  inmost 
desire  of  France.  If  the  enemy  is  ready  before  we  are, 
then  the  useless  and  scandalous  discussions  heard  last 
Friday  in  the  Palais  Bourbon  have  been  the  cause  of 
its  being  in  advance." 

The  Opinion  Nationale  said:  "  And  we  Republicans, 
Democrats,  Socialists,  citizens  of  an  ideal  fatherland,  let 
us  return  to  our  real  fatherland,  and  let  us  sustain  it 
in  its  struggle,  without  troubling  ourselves  about  the  per- 
sons and  things  that  divide  us.  A  truce  at  this  moment 
to  all  intestine  disputes !  ' ' 

The  Presse  had  under  the  heading,  "  The  National 
War,"  an  article  which  contained  the  following  words: 
"  The  cries  of  war,  which  resounded  yesterday  on  our 
boulevards,  will  now  fill  France,  and  sustain  our  army 
in  the  heroic  struggle  to  which  the  insolence  of  Prussia 
provokes  us.  The  resolutions  of  war  which  we  are  about 
to  take  do  not  emanate  from  the  Government.  The  Gov- 
ernment has  been  irresolute;  it  allowed  itself,  by  some 
of  its  chiefs,  at  least,  to  be  drawn  into  making  absurd 
concessions.  These  resolves  go  out  from  the  very  soul, 
so  to  speak,  of  the  country  itself.  They  are  the  result 
of  all  the  irritation  of  national  sentiment  against  the 
system  of  slavery  which  threatened  to  weigh  down  Eu- 
rope," etc. 

Perfectly  in  accordance  with  the  conclusions  and  the 
language  of  the  Paris  Press  was  the  feeling  of  the  ma- 
jority of  the  nation  at  that  time.  "It  is  now,"  said  M. 
Emile  Ollivier,  on  receiving  Bismarck's  falsified  despatch, 


THE    FRANCO-GERMAN    WAR  181 

"  beyond  the  power  of  man  to  avert  this  war."  The 
question  at  issue  from  that  moment  ceased  to  be  a  diplo- 
matic affair,  or  a  matter  that  concerned  only  the  Im- 
perial Government.  The  two  nations,  Prussia  and  France, 
had  been  thrown  in  collision,  and  were  immediately 
in  flames.  A  war  of  races  was  now  inevitable.  When 
M.  Gambetta,  on  the  morning  after  the  publication  of 
this  famous  despatch,  said,  in  the  Chamber  of  Deputies, 
"  The  purpose  of  this  war  is  to  settle  forever  between  the 
French  and  Germanic  races  the  question  of  preponder- 
ance," his  words  only  expressed  what  every  Frenchman 
then  felt.  To  the  challenge  "  Qui  vivef  "  the  answer  came 
in  a  voice  of  thunder,  "  La  France!  "  The  French  capital 
was  seized  with  irrepressible  enthusiasm  and  wild  excite- 
ment. Every  night,  for  more  than  a  week,  after  the  reso- 
lution of  the  Government  became  known,  the  boulevards 
were  filled  by  the  populace,  whose  numbers  were  so  great 
as  to  make  it  impossible  for  carriages  to  proceed  along  the 
roadway.  All  the  people  of  Paris  seemed  to  be  possessed 
with  a  species  of  contagious  hysterical  insanity.  The  spec- 
tacle presented  by  these  nocturnal  demonstrations  was  most 
extraordinary.  The  foreign  visitors  in  Paris  looked  on 
from  the  windows  of  their  hotels,  or  other  stations  of  van- 
tage, with  wonder  and  astonishment.  They  were  mani- 
festations not  so  much  of  patriotic  feeling,  as  of  rage 
and  an  irrepressible  desire  for  vengeance.  The  dominant 
cvy,  the  one  that  rose  above  and  drowned  all  others,  was 
"A  has  la  Prusse!  " 

But  while  the  populace  gathered  by  night  in  the 
streets,  marching  in  columns  a  thousand  strong,  and  cry- 
ing "A  has  la  Prusse!  "  "A  Berlin!  "  other  crowds  of  peo- 
ple assembled  during  the  day  before  the  windows  of  the 
money-changers,  in  order  to  read  the  last  quotations.  The 
Bourse,  and  the  square  in  which  it  stands,  could  not 
hold  the  enormous  number  of  persons  who  wished  to  as- 
certain  as   quickly   as   possible   the  value   of  stocks   and 


182         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

bonds;  from  the  Rue  Vivienne  as  far  as  the  Boulevard 
des  Capucines,  the  streets  presented  that  peculiar  spec- 
tacle, a  swaying,  surging  mass  of  gesticulating,  vocifera- 
ting humanity,  which  in  times  of  peace  was  only  to  be 
seen  on  the  floor,  or  in  the  perlieus  of  the  Stock  Exchange. 
Nor  was  the  depreciation  in  value  limited  to  French  se- 
curities. Stocks  and  bonds  of  nearly  every  description 
were  affected.  British  consols  and  United  States  bonds 
fell  off  almost  as  many  points  as  French  rentes.  The  in- 
calculable consequences  of  the  conflict  that  was  imminent 
between  the  two  greatest  Powers  on  the  Continent  of  Eu- 
rope unsettled  prices  everywhere,  and  disturbed  pro- 
foundly the  money-markets  of  the  world. 

Everywhere  were  loud  voices,  wild  exclamations,  and 
dense  crowds.  The  omnibuses  could  not  pursue  their 
usual  route  along  the  boulevards,  but  had  to  take  parallel 
streets,  and  even  there  they  could  proceed  only  with 
difficulty. 

The  Prefect  of  Police,  after  the  declaration  of  war, 
authorized  the  singing  of  the  "  Marseillaise  "  at  the  cafe- 
concerts,  and  liberal  use  was  made  of  this  permission. 

Even  those  places  where,  in  times  of  peace,  great 
ceremony  was  observed,  and  where  a  breach  of  etiquette 
would  have  been  regarded  as  intolerable,  became,  from 
the  15th  of  July,  scenes  of  the  most  extraordinary  mani- 
festations of  patriotic  feeling. 

At  the  Grand  Opera  one  evening,  after  the  "  Mar- 
seillaise "  had  been  wildly  applauded,  some  persons  gave 
expression  to  their  desire  to  hear  Alfred  de  Musset's  long- 
forgotten  "  Rhin  Allemand." 

This  desire  was  seconded  at  once  by  the  whole  audi- 
ence present  in  the  theater,  and  loud  calls  for  the  "  Rhin 
Allemand  "  were  heard  on  every  side.  The  Regis- 
seur  appeared  on  the  stage  and  announced  that  none  of 
the  opera-singers  knew  the  words.  This,  however,  did  not 
satisfy    the    excited    crowd;    and   in   order   to   quiet   the 


THE    FRANCO-GERMAN    WAR  183 

tumult,  which  had  become  unbearable,  M.  Faure  finally 
agreed  to  sing  the  ' '  Rhin  Allemand  '  from  the  notes. 
After  that  evening,  this  song,  as  well  as  the  "  Marseil- 
laise "  was  sung  every  night  at  the  Opera  until  the  threat- 
ening prospect  of  a  siege  put  an  end  to  the  amusement. 
Not  only  the  capital,  but  every  city,  every  village,  of 
France,  was  seized  with  military  enthusiasm;  and  there 
were  but  few  Frenchmen  that  were  not  carried  away  by 
the  popular  excitement.     Among  these  was  the  Emperor. 

"  Napoleon  III.,"  says  a  contemporary  writer,  "  had 
no  part  in  the  general  intoxication;  his  enthusiasm  was 
that  of  a  soul  inspired  by  great  subjects.  He  did  not  know 
that  enthusiasm  of  the  imagination  which  darkens  reason 
and  gives  birth  to  illusions." 

The  Emperor's  heart  was  full  of  anxiety,  because  he 
had  seriously  studied  the  chances  of  the  war.  He  foresaw 
the  possible  consequences  to  himself,  his  dynasty,  and  his 
country;  but  he  believed  in  his  destiny  and  had  confidence 
in  his  army.  And  if  he  was  mistaken  with  respect  to  its 
ability  to  promptly  and  successfully  execute  the  plan  of 
campaign  that  had  been  agreed  upon,  it  was  largely  on 
account  of  the  incorrect  information  which  he  received 
from  his  ministers.  No  monarch,  no  head  of  any  great 
institution,  can  make  sure  of  everything  by  immediate  per- 
sonal investigation;  he  must  study  carefully  the  reports 
of  those  whom  he  has  charged  with  the  examination  of 
the  details  of  his  affairs,  and  do  his  best  to  learn  their 
opinion.    Napoleon  III.  did  this,  and  even  more. 

The  Emperor  seldom  relied  exclusively  upon  the  opinion 
of  his  ministers,  but  made  himself  well  acquainted  even 
with  many  of  the  details  of  the  administration,  and  es- 
pecially with  those  concerning  the  military  affairs  of  the 
country.  He  was  continually  instituting  inquiries  with 
regard  to  the  condition  and  serviceableness  of  the  war 
materiel,  and  concerning  the  different  kinds  of  arms  in  use ; 


184         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

and  not  only  spent  a  great  deal  of  his  time  in  improving 
the  artillery,  which  in  modern  wars  has  become  of  such 
great  importance,  but  he  also  tried  to  obtain  a  correct 
knowledge  of  the  general  state  and  efficiency  of  the  army. 

Thus,  for  instance,  in  the  year  1867,  after  the  trouble 
with  Prussia  with  respect  to  the  Duchy  of  Luxembourg,  he 
said  to  General  Lebrun,  ' '  We  have  escaped.  But  from  this 
moment  we  ought  to  think  of  the  future,  and  in  peace  to 
be  always  ready  for  war;  so  that,  should  an  event  occur 
similar  to  the  one  we  have  just  had  to  deal  with,  we 
may  not  be  found  living  in  a  fool 's  paradise,  and  absolutely 
unprepared  to  defend  ourselves." 

And  thereupon,  in  order  to  obtain  a  clear  insight  into 
the  existing  military  organization  as  a  working  mechanism, 
he  himself  thoroughly  investigated  it,  and  gave  particular 
consideration  to  plans  for  the  formation  of  independent 
armies  on  French  territory;  the  object  being  to  obtain 
thereby  an  organization  of  the  national  forces  more  mobile 
and  effective,  and  more  in  accordance  with  the  require- 
ments of  modern  war.  The  results  of  his  studies  were 
subsequently  (in  1867)  published  in  a  memoir  which  he 
submitted  to  Marshal  Niel,  then  Minister  of  War. 

Indeed,  the  Army  was  always  a  special  object  of  interest 
and  solicitude  with  the  Emperor,  and  nothing  that  might 
in  any  way  contribute  to  the  health,  comfort,  and  efficiency 
of  the  French  soldier  ever  failed,  when  brought  to  his 
notice,  to  find  in  him  an  earnest  advocate. 

I  have  already  spoken  of  the  interest  taken  by  the  Em- 
peror in  the  War  of  the  Rebellion  of  1861-65,  and  of  my 
efforts  to  keep  him  well  informed  with  respect  to  its  prog- 
ress. But  it  was  not  information  relating  only  to  questions 
of  strategy  and  tactics  that  he  wished  to  have ;  he  wanted 
to  know  all  about  the  organization  of  the  commissariat  and 
the  quartermaster's  department,  and  particularly  about 
the  kind  of  food  and  the  quality  of  the  clothing  issued 
to   the   soldiers.     At   his   request,    I   sent   to   the   United 


THE    FRANCO-GERMAN    WAR  185 

States  for  samples  of  the  clothing,  the  daily  rations,  and 
other  supplies  furnished  by  the  Federal  Government  to 
the  army  while  in  active  service.  Many  of  these  articles 
— such  as  desiccated  vegetables,  desiccated  eggs,  condensed 
milk,  and  so  forth — were  either  American  inventions  or 
were  used  in  the  United  States  army  on  a  scale  vastly 
greater  than  had  ever  before  been  known.  All  these  things 
interested  his  Majesty  very  much;  and  I  remember  now 
how,  after  examining  with  considerable  care  a  specimen 
of  the  famous  blue  overcoats  worn  by  the  Federal  sol- 
diers, he  exclaimed,  "  C'est  tres  Men."  In  making  his 
inquiries,  no  new  facts  seemed  to  be  too  trivial  to  be  dis- 
regarded; and  he  liked  to  see  the  facts  that  he  believed 
to  be  important  stated  in  writing,  if  not  in  print.  And 
while  informing  himself  about  the  instruments  made  use 
of,  or  the  means  taken  to  increase  the  efficiency  of  the  army 
in  my  own  country,  I  observed  that  he  always  appreciated 
these  things  in  proportion  to  the  extent  to  which  he  thought 
they  might,  perhaps,  be  adopted  or  employed  with  advan- 
tage in  the  French  army. 

The  reports  which  the  military  authorities  gave  to 
the  Emperor  just  before  the  war  began,  in  July,  1870,  were 
such  that  he  was  forced  to  believe  France  was  sufficiently 
prepared  to  enter  into  a  war  with  Germany  without  incur- 
ring any  extraordinary  hazards. 

It  is  true  that  he  was  aware  there  existed  a  considerable 
difference  in  the  numerical  strength  of  the  armies  of  the 
two  countries;  but  this  difference  was,  as  the  best  French 
strategists  maintained,  not  sufficient  to  prejudice  the  success 
of  the  French,  provided  the  regiments  could  be  mobilized 
and  concentrated  quickly  enough  to  make  an  immediate 
attack  upon  the  enemy. 

General  Changarnier  gave  his  opinion  on  the  subject  of 
numerical  inferiority  in  war  in  the  following  words:  "  Do 
not  let  us  try  to  make  the  number  of  our  soldiers  equal 
to  that  of  our  eventual  adversaries;  even  by  exhausting 


186         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

all  our  resources  we  should  not  succeed  in  doing  so,  but 
this  should  give  us  no  anxiety.  It  is  difficult  for  3,000  men 
to  fight  successfully  against  5,000 ;  but  it  is  not  so  difficult 
for  60,000  to  fight  against  100,000.  The  more  the  numbers 
themselves  increase,  the  less  dangerous  is  a  numerical 
inferiority. ' '  * 

This  opinion  was  shared  by  most  of  the  French  military 
authorities,  among  others  by  the  Prince  de  Joinville,  by 
Admiral  Rigault  de  Genouilly,  and  by  Marshal  Leboeuf. 
But,  of  course,  the  conditio  sine  qua  non  was  that  Marshal 
Leboeuf 's  statement  in  regard  to  the  perfect  readiness  of 
the  army  to  move  should  be  correct.  And  this,  as  will  be 
seen  later,  was  not  the  case. 

That  the  Emperor  well  understood  the  seriousness  of 
the  war  which  he  was  forced  to  undertake,  may  be  seen 
from  the  significant  reply  which  he  made  to  the  long  and 
optimistic  address  pronounced  by  M.  Rouher  in  presence 
of  the  Senate,  which  on  the  16th  of  July  had  assembled  at 
St.  Cloud  to  express  to  his  Majesty  their  patriotic  senti- 
ments. "  We  begin,"  said  the  Emperor,  "  a  serious  strug- 
gle.   France  will  need  the  assistance  of  all  her  children.'' 

These  words  of  the  Emperor  should  not  be  forgotten 
now,  after  the  apprehensions  of  Europe  have  been  verified. 
An  impartial  mind  must  recognize  the  fact  that  the  defeat 
of  the  French  in  the  war  of  1870  was  not  due  to  any  neglect 
on  the  part  of  Napoleon  III.,  but  that,  on  the  contrary, 
the  Emperor  did  all  in  his  power  to  insure  the  victory 
to  France.  Had  the  people,  on  their  part,  not  deserted 
him,  after  forcing  him  to  declare  war,  and  had  they  still 
maintained  the  character  attributed  to  them  by  Caesar,  when 
he  wrote,  "  Nefas  more  Gallorem  est,  etiam  in  extremd 
fortund  deserere  patronos  "  (It  is  considered  shameful  by 
the  Gauls  to  desert  their  leaders,  even  in  the  greatest  ad- 
versity), it  is  but  fair  to  suppose  that  the  issue  of  this 

*  "  La  Vgrite"  sur  la  Campagne  de  1870."    Giraudeau,  p.  191. 


THE    FRANCO-GERMAN    WAR  187 

war  might  have  been  very  different  from  what  it  was.  The 
strength  of  Germany  lay  in  its  unity,  and  in  the  loyalty 
of  its  inhabitants;  the  weakness  of  France  in  its  want 
of  unity,  and  in  the  disloyalty  of  its  citizens  at  a  moment 
when  all  party  interests  and  dynastic  considerations  should 
have  been  forgotten.  Interior  dissensions  encourage  and 
strengthen  the  common  enemy ;  while  even  with  the  feeblest 
government  success  is  possible  in  case  the  people  unite  all 
their  efforts.  In  the  discord  which  reigned  in  France  in 
the  year  1870,  and  in  the  action  of  certain  men  who  had 
been,  and  were  then,  willing  to  sacrifice  the  army,  the  coun- 
try, everything,  to  gratify  their  political  hatred  or  satisfy 
their  personal  ambition,  the  direct  cause  of  the  defeat  of 
the  French  is  to  be  recognized.  France  was  in  need  of  the 
assistance  of  all  her  children. 

The  French  nation  had  wished  for  war,  and  now  the 
preparations  for  the  contest  began.  On  the  16th  of 
July,  at  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning,  a  bill  containing  the 
following  announcement  was  posted  on  the  walls  of  the 
Eastern  Railway  Station : 

"  From  this  date  (July  16th)  the  passenger  service  upon 
the  lines  of  the  Eastern  Railway  will  be  partially  sus- 
pended. Travelers  are  requested  to  apply  to  the  station- 
master  for  information  regarding  the  departure  of  trains." 

This  proved  that  the  advance  of  the  army  to  the  frontier 
had  been  decided  upon. 

On  the  same  day,  towards  noon,  thousands  of  people 
hurried  to  this  station  in  order  to  witness  the  departure 
of  the  troops.  At  three  o'clock  the  Ninety-fifth  Regiment 
of  the  Line,  which  had  been  stationed  at  Fort  de  Bicetre,  ar- 
rived. It  was  accompanied  by  a  large  crowd  singing  the 
"  Marseillaise  "  and  crying  "  Vive  I'Armee."  The  num- 
ber of  spectators  assembled  between  the  entrance-gates  and 
the  station  was  so  large  that  the  soldiers  could  only  proceed 
with  difficulty. 


188         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

The  Eighty-first  Regiment  arrived  at  nearly  the  same 
time,  led  by  a  band  playing  the  ' '  Marseillaise. ' ' 

The  appearance  of  these  soldiers  was  far  from  reas- 
suring; and  although,  under  the  circumstances,  the  cries 
of  "  A  Berlin  "  and  the  noisy  anticipations  of  victory  were 
pardonable,  and  more  or  less  confusion  was  to  be  expected, 
the  unprejudiced  witness  could  not  fail  to  be  struck  with 
the  want  of  discipline,  solidity,  and  seriousness  which  was 
plainly  visible  in  their  ranks. 

A  still  greater  disappointment  was  produced  by  the 
appearance  of  the  Gardes  Mobiles.  No  real  patriot  who 
looked  at  these  young  men,  some  of  whom  appeared  on 
the  street  in  a  partially  intoxicated  state,  accompanied  by 
women  in  the  same  condition,  could  help  having  grave 
apprehensions  as  to  the  success  of  the  war;  and  many  a 
face  was  saddened  when  companies  of  these  ill-conditioned 
levies  were  seen  to  fill  the  trains  that  were  leaving  Paris. 

Darker  and  darker  grew  the  horizon,  and  it  became 
plainer  from  day  to  day  that  the  tempest  of  war  was 
approaching. 

On  the  26th  of  July  the  Emperor  Napoleon  III.  began 
to  make  his  arrangements  to  leave  the  Palace  of  Saint  Cloud 
for  the  purpose  of  assuming  the  command  of  the  army; 
perhaps  the  most  important  of  these  was  the  appointment 
of  the  Empress,  by  special  decree,  Regent  of  the  Empire. 

For  seventeen  years  the  sovereign  who  was  thus  called 
to  represent  her  country,  in  the  midst  of  the  vicissitudes 
of  a  great  struggle,  had  shared  the  prosperous  government 
of  the  Emperor;  she  had  adorned  the  most  splendid  court 
in  Europe  by  her  intelligence,  the  brilliancy  of  her  wit, 
by  her  grace  and  her  beauty;  and  her  ardent  patriotism, 
and  ever-present  sympathy  for  the  poor  and  suffering, 
justly  entitled  her  to  the  confidence  and  love  of  the 
people. 

Her  noble  character  well  qualified  her  for  the  position 
she  was  now  to  hold,  and  her  knowledge  of  the  affairs  of 


THE    FRANCO-GERMAN    WAR  189 

government  which  she  had  obtained  through  the  interest 
she  had  always  taken  in  them,  and  by  means  of  the  instruc- 
tion which  she  had  received,  rendered  her  perfectly  compe- 
tent to  govern  the  country  she  loved  so  dearly.  She  had 
often  taken  part  in  the  Cabinet  councils  during  the  years 
of  peace,  and  the  Emperor  had  explained  to  her  the  mech- 
anism and  initiated  her  into  all  the  mysteries  of  State 
affairs;  for  he  wished  that  the  mother  of  the  Prince  Im- 
perial should  be  able,  in  case  of  necessity,  to  educate  her 
son  for  the  serious  tasks  which  the  future  might  devolve 
upon  him. 

That  her  Majesty  fully  comprehended  her  responsibility 
and  well  understood  her  duty,  must  be  acknowledged  by 
all  who  have  studied  the  history  of  the  Regency;  and  few 
would  blame  her  for  anything  that  happened  during  the 
short  period  of  her  administration,  were  they  to  consider 
under  what  difficulties  it  was  entered  upon  and  conducted. 
Even  the  most  excellent  qualifications  of  the  Regent 
could  not  remedy  the  organic  defect  in  the  Govern- 
ment, which  consisted  in  the  restriction  of  her  power 
at  a  time  when  it  should  have  been  concentrated  in  her 
person  alone,  and  when  she  should  have  been  subject  to 
no  other  will  or  opinion  than  that  of  the  Emperor  and  his 
ministers. 

In  the  year  1859  she  was  able,  as  Regent,  to  discharge 
her  duties  easily  and  successfully,  for  she  was  free;  while 
in  the  year  1870,  under  the  "  liberal  Empire,"  her  initia- 
tive was  destroyed,  and  she  was  unable  to  act  with  any 
freedom  on  account  of  the  interference  of  the  Legislative 
Assembly,  which,  instead  of  simply  maintaining  its  place 
as  a  coordinate  power,  tried  to  usurp  the  functions  of  the 
Executive,  and  thus  hampered  all  her  movements.  The 
most  perfect,  the  most  democratic  Republics  that  have  ever 
existed,  have  concentrated  authority  in  times  of  war.  The 
Roman  Commonwealth,  for  instance,  placed  the  supreme 

power,  in  times  of  danger,  in  the  hands  of  one  man,  a 
14 


190         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

Dictator,  while  the  French  nation,  although  ruled  by  a 
constitutional  monarch,  tried  to  limit  the  power  of  the 
Regent  by  establishing  an  oligarchy  that  interfered  directly 
and  constantly  with  her  duties.  If  these  facts  are  con- 
sidered, the  results  will  not  be  wondered  at. 

The  Emperor  decided  to  leave  Saint  Cloud  on  the 
28th  of  July,  and  I  went  to  the  palace  on  the  morning 
of  that  day  to  bid  him  farewell.  Clouds  covered  the  sky, 
and  there  was  a  heaviness  in  the  atmosphere  that  seemed 
to  forebode  evil.  The  evening  before,  the  Emperor,  the 
Empress,  and  the  Prince  Imperial,  as  I  learned,  had  par- 
taken of  the  Communion  at  the  hands  of  Monseigneur 
Darboy,  the  venerable  Archbishop  of  Paris,  who  was  as- 
sassinated by  the  Communists  a  few  months  later.  Soon 
after  I  arrived,  the  Emperor,  with  the  Empress  and  Prince 
Imperial,  came  out  of  the  apartments  of  her  Majesty  into 
the  great  salon,  where  those  who  had  come  to  bid  him 
good-by  had  gathered  together.  With  a  kind  word  or  a 
pressure  of  the  hand  for  every  one,  he  passed  on.  As 
he  took  leave  of  those  whom  he  knew  intimately,  and  of 
his  ministers  and  the  members  of  the  Imperial  household 
who  were  present  on  this  occasion,  it  seemed  to  me  that 
there  was  an  unusual  tone  of  tenderness  in  his  voice,  and 
an  expression  of  sadness  on  his  face  such  as  I  had  never 
seen  before.  To  some  one  saying,  "In  a  fortnight  your 
Majesty  will  be  in  Berlin,"  he  replied  solemnly,  "  No,  don't 
expect  that,  even  if  we  are  successful."  He  doubtless 
still  believed  in  his  destiny;  but  certainly  no  longer  with 
assurance  in  his  good  fortune.  Although  apparently  per- 
fectly calm,  it  was  evident  that  he  was  profoundly  agitated. 
I  noticed  that  he  was  smoking  a  cigar,  something  quite 
unusual  for  him  to  do. 

About  ten  o'clock  he  got  into  his  carriage  to  go  to  the 
station  at  the  extremity  of  the  park,  where  he  was  to  take 
the  train ;  the  Empress  being  at  his  side,  nervous,  striving 


THE    FRANCO-GERMAN    WAR  191 

to  look  cheerful,  and  holding  in  her  hand  the  hand  of  the 
young  Prince,  whose  eyes  had  filled  with  tears  at  the 
thought  of  leaving  his  mother.  The  carriage  started  im- 
mediately— the  Emperor,  after  bowing  to  the  people  as- 
sembled in  the  Court,  looking  straight  ahead,  but  seemingly 
observing  nothing. 

Together  with  many  others  I  went  to  the  station,  where 
for  the  last  time  the  Emperor  received  us,  bidding  good-by 
to  those  with  whom  he  had  not  before  spoken,  until  the 
signal  was  given  for  the  train  to  leave.  Then,  turning 
to  the  Empress,  he  embraced  her  tenderly,  and,  after 
stepping  into  the  carriage  reserved  for  him  and  his  suite, 
he  looked  back  and  waved  his  hand  toward  her;  while 
we  stood  watching,  in  silence  and  with  deep  feeling,  this 
really  touching  separation  of  the  Imperial  family. 

As  the  train  moved  slowly  away,  all  heads  were  un- 
covered, and  the  cry  of  "  Vive  I'Empereur!  "  rang  out, 
weak  in  volume  but  sharp  and  clear.  In  a  few  moments 
the  Emperor  and  the  Prince  Imperial  were  out  of  sight, 
and  the  Empress,  struggling  to  suppress  her  sobs,  was 
on  her  way  back  to  the  palace,  where  she  had  spent  so 
many  happy  days,  where  the  first  weeks  of  her  married  life 
had  been  passed,  and  which,  beautiful  and  enduring  as 
it  then  seemed  to  be,  as  if  having  served  the  purpose 
for  which  it  had  been  created,  and  associated  in  some 
mysterious  way  with  the  fortune  of  the  Imperial  Govern- 
ment— for  here  it  was,  in  1804,  that  the  Empire  of  Napo- 
leon was  proclaimed — a  few  months  later  was  only  a 
shapeless  heap  of  twisted  iron  and  calcined  marble. 

I  could  not  fail  to  be  profoundly  impressed  with  the 
difference  there  was  between  the  morale  of  those  connected 
with  this  departure,  whether  as  principals  or  witnesses,  and 
that  exhibited  on  the  occasion  of  the  Emperor's  leaving 
Paris  in  1859,  to  join  the  army  in  Italy.  Then,  the  streets 
filled  with  immense  crowds,  flags  everywhere,  the  Emperor 
left  the  Tuileries  in  a  carriage  driven  by  postilions,  sur- 


192         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

rounded  by  the  great  dignitaries  of  the  Court,  officers  in 
brilliant  uniforms,  and  the  cuirassiers  of  the  Guard,  and 
was  received  all  along  the  route  to  the  Lyons  Railway 
Station  with  the  wildest  enthusiasm,  he  himself  saluting  the 
vast  assemblage,  calm  and  confident.  The  popular  exalta- 
tion carried  with  it  a  presage  and  an  assurance  of  victory 
that  gave  to  that  departure  the  appearance  of  a  triumph. 
Now,  attended  by  a  few  members  of  his  Government,  his 
personal  staff,  and  his  official  household,  avoiding  the  cap- 
ital, silently,  almost  secretly,  the  Emperor  goes  off  to  meet 
his  destiny. 

In  these  later  years  many  sayings  of  the  Emperor  have 
been  reported  revealing  his  sense  of  the  very  doubtful 
result  of  the  war;  but  the  most  conspicuous  proof  of  his 
full  appreciation  of  the  gravity  of  the  situation  was  the 
care  with  which,  when  leaving  for  the  head-quarters  of  his 
army,  he  avoided  the  demonstrations  of  enthusiasm  with 
which  he  would  have  been  greeted  by  the  people  of  Paris 
had  he  appeared  among  them,  and  to  which  in  his  own 
soul  he  could  find  no  response. 

As  I  returned  to  Paris,  mingled  thoughts  of  fear  and 
hope  crossed  my  mind,  but  the  feeling  of  anxiety  prevailed. 
To  an  unprejudiced  person,  the  future  of  France  could 
look  but  dark  and  uncertain,  and  I  was  quite  prepared 
to  hear  that  the  French  army  had  met  with  a  repulse  at 
the  frontier.  The  campaign,  however,  proved  to  be  far 
more  disastrous  than  I  had  anticipated  or  even  thought 
possible. 

On  the  evening  of  the  28th  of  July,  the  Emperor,  accom- 
panied by  the  Prince  Imperial,  arrived  at  Metz  for  the 
purpose  of  taking  the  chief  command.  He  had  left  Saint 
Cloud,  as  we  have  said,  troubled  with  doubts  and  with  sad 
misgivings.  The  chief  cause  of  his  uneasiness  was  that 
he  knew  his  army  might  have  to  contend  with  an  enemy 
superior  in  numbers,  and  reported  by  his  own  most  highly 
credited  agents  to  possess  great  military  qualities;  but  he 


THE    FRANCO-GERMAN    WAR  193 

knew  also  that  he  had  done  all  he  could  to  make  the  armies 
of  France  efficient,  and  that,  if  his  country  had  to  suffer 
on  account  of  not  having  enough  men  under  arms,  or  from 
insufficient  preparation  for  this  emergency,  the  blame  could 
not  justly  be  placed  upon  him. 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE    FRENCH    ARMY — SEDAN    AND   BISMARCK 

The  efforts  of  the  Emperor  to  increase  the  strength  of  the  army — 
His  proposals  are  denounced  by  the  Opposition — Favre — Thiers 
— Magnin — Jules  Simon — State  of  the  army  when  war  was  declared 
— On  arriving  at  Metz  the  Emperor  finds  nothing  ready — Misled 
by  incorrect  reports — A  fair  example — The  situation  becomes  more 
and  more  difficult — A  change  of  commanders — Sedan — A  vivid 
account  of  the  battle  written  by  the  Emperor — Further  resistance 
impossible — The  flag  of  truce — The  letter  of  the  Emperor  to  the 
King  of  Prussia — De  Wimpfen  meets  Von  Moltke  and  Bismarck  at 
Donche>y — Interview  between  the  Emperor  and  Bismarck  de- 
scribed by  Bismarck  in  a  letter  to  the  King  of  Prussia — Two  letters 
— "Conneau." 

^^gAPOLEON  III.,  during  the  years  immediately 
J*>  preceding  the  war  of  1870,  had  earnestly  ad- 
vised reorganizing  the  army,  so  that  France 
might  be  strong  enough  to  preserve  peace,  or 
to  protect  itself  against  any  of  the  neighboring  countries  in 
case  of  invasion ;  but  the  nation  did  not  listen  to  him. 

On  the  12th  of  December,  1866,  at  his  suggestion,  a 
proposition  was  laid  before  the  Legislative  Assembly  asking 
that  the  numerical  strength  of  the  army  might  be  raised, 
when  on  a  war  footing,  to  1,200,000  men — the  number  at 
the  disposal  of  the  King  of  Prussia.  This  was  to  be  brought 
about  with  a  very  slight  increase  in  the  charge  on  the  Treas- 
ury, by  changing  the  system  of  recruitment  and  by  means 
of  a  reorganization  of  the  military  service  that  would  place 
about  500,000  men  of  the  National  Guard  at  the  disposal  of 
the  Government,  to  be  called  into  any  field  of  military  op- 
194 


mess* 


THE    FRENCH    ARMY  195 

erations  in  the  event  of  war.  The  proposition  was  de- 
nounced and  strongly  fought  against  by  the  leaders  of  the 
Opposition  in  the  Legislative  Assembly.  It  furnished  a 
splendid  subject  for  the  phrase-makers.  "  What,"  said 
Jules  Favre,  ' '  after  reigning  fifteen  years,  after  the  public 
debt  has  been  increased  by  8,000,000,000  francs,  after  we 
have  been  forced  into  the  wars  that  you  know  about — it  is 
to  be  decreed  that  the  whole  population  is  to  be  delivered 
over  to  the  drill-sergeant,  and  that  France,  instead  of  being 
a  workshop,  shall  henceforth  be  only  a  barrack !  '  And  M. 
Gamier  Pages,  while  arguing  to  show  that  liberty  had 
more  to  gain  by  defeats  than  by  victories,  declared  that  the 
boundaries  of  States  were  no  longer  fixed  by  mountains,  or 
rivers,  or  by  armies,  and  loftily  proclaimed  that  "  la  vraie 
frontiere  c'est  le  patriotism." 

M.  Thiers  spoke  as  follows : 

"  Gentlemen,  you  forget  one  thing.  It  may  be  said 
that  there  is  only  the  National  Guard  to  defend  the  country, 
and  that,  unless  you  create  the  Garde  Mobile,  France  is 
open  to  the  enemy.  I  must,  however,  ask  you  of  what 
benefit  to  us  is  our  admirable  active  army,  which  costs  from 
400,000,000  to  500,000,000  francs  annually  ?  Or,  do  you 
suppose  that  it  will  submit  to  the  first  shock,  and  that 
France  will  be  immediately  without  defense?  Some  days 
ago  it  was  mentioned  in  this  place  that  several  Powers 
could  oppose  to  you  1,200,000,  1,300,000,  and  even  1,500,000 
men  under  arms.  I  do  not  say  that  these  figures  have 
influenced  your  votes;  but,  after  all,  these  figures,  when 
quoted,  made  upon  you  a  very  vivid  impression.  Well, 
then,  these  figures  are  altogether  chimerical.  According 
to  the  statement  of  the  Honorable  Minister,  Prussia  is 
able  to  oppose  to  us  1,300,000  men.  But  I  must  ask  him, 
When  has  any  one  seen  these  formidable  numbers?  How 
many  men  did  Prussia  send  into  Bohemia  in  1866  ?  About 
300,000.  .  .  .  Therefore,  gentlemen,  we  must  not  give 
the  least  credit  to  these  fanciful  figures.    They  are  fabulous, 


196         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

and  have  never  had  any  existence  in  fact.  Let  us,  then, 
be  assured  our  army  will  be  sufficient  to  stop  the  enemy. 
Behind  it,  the  country  will  have  time  to  breathe  quietly 
and  to  organize  its  reserves.  Will  you  not  have  always 
two  or  three  months — that  is  to  say,  more  time  than  you 
need — for  the  organization  of  the  Garde  Mobile  and  for 
the  utilization  of  the  popular  zeal?  Besides,  there  will 
be  volunteers  in  abundance.  You  have  far  too  little  con- 
fidence in  your  country. ' '  * 

*  But  on  the  12th  of  August,  1870,  after  hearing  of  the  first  reverses 
that  befell  the  French  army,  this  adroit  politician,  with  characteristic 
versatility,  declared  in  the  Chamber  of  Deputies  he  had  never  ceased 
to  warn  the  Government  that  its  preparations  for  a  war  with  Germany 
were  altogether  insufficient:  "There  is  not  a  minister,"  he  affirmed, 
' '  who  has  not  heard  me  say  we  were  not  ready ;  the  country  has  been 
deceived."  And  this  was  said  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  on  the 
30th  of  June — only  sixteen  days  before  the  declaration  of  war — he  had 
said  in  that  same  Chamber  (I  quote  from  the  official  journal) :  "  If  we 
are  at  peace,  if  we  are  threatened  by  no  one,  it  is  because  we  are  known 
to  be  ready  for  war.  This  is  as  clear  as  the  light — yes,  evident  to  all 
those  who  know  the  situation  in  Europe.  Do  you  know  why  peace  has 
been  preserved  ?     It  is  because  you  are  strong." 

M.  Thiers  was  always  in  opposition  when  not  in  power;  he  had  no 
political  convictions  of  any  kind.  He  was  true  to  but  one  party,  that 
of  Adolphe  Thiers.  In  1848,  when  Louis  Napoleon  was  a  candidate  for 
the  Presidency  of  the  Republic,  the  Revue  Comique  asked  M.  Thiers, 
"  Why  do  you  support  Prince  Louis?  "  and  answered  the  question  for 
him  as  follows:  "Because  his  incapacity  is  notorious;  because  he  is 
impossible;  because  it  is  the  Revolution  over  again;  with  Prince  Louis 
the  struggle  will  recommence;  and  with  the  contest  there  will  be  all  the 
uncertainties,  but  also  all  the  hopes  of  the  future.'"  No  analysis  of  a 
character  could  be  more  exact.  M.  Thiers'  love  of  leadership  was  such 
that  he  was  never  known  to  be,  in  American  political  parlance,  "  on  the 
fence"  on  any  subject  but  once  in  his  life.  When  M.  de  Belcastel  one 
day  asked  him,  "  What  are  your  relations  with  God?"  he  replied:  "On 
that  matter  I  think  we  shall  be  able  to  understand  each  other,  for  I  am 
neither  of  the  Court  nor  of  the  Opposition." 

Many,  perhaps  most,  Frenchmen  are  disposed  to  forgive  and  to  forget 
a  great  deal  in  M.  Thiers'  political  life,  not  so  much  on  account  of  his 
wonderful  intellectual  alertness,  his  marvelous  gifts  of  speech,  his  wit, 


THE    FRENCH    ARMY  197 

These  were  the  words  of  M.  Thiers  when  this  propo- 
sition to  increase  the  army  and  its  efficiency  was  brought 
before  the  Legislative  Assembly;  and  the  speeches  of  his 
colleagues  of  the  Opposition  were  to  the  same  effect;  and 

his  diplomatic  skill,  the  ingenious  versatility  with  which  he  was  able  to 
adjust  himself  to  every  political  situation,  as  in  remembrance  of  his 
undaunted  efforts,  in  the  winter  of  1870-71,  to  obtain  the  intervention 
of  Europe  in  behalf  of  France,  and  the  rapidity  with  which  he  subse- 
quently, when  "  Chef  du  pouvoir,"  freed  his  country  from  the  presence 
of  the  hated  enemy. 

The  fact  nevertheless  remains,  that  on  this  "  liberator  of  the  terri- 
tory "  will  forever  rest  a  very  large  part  of  the  responsibility  of  having 
pushed  France  into  an  abyss,  from  which  it  could  only  be  extricated 
after  its  dismemberment,  and  liberated  at  the  cost  of  a  prodigious 
pecuniary  ransom. 

The  Hon.  Andrew  D.  White,  our  late  distinguished  Minister  and 
Ambassador  to  St.  Petersburg  and  Berlin,  an  acute  and  yet  most  unpre- 
judiced observer  of  men  and  events,  in  his  "Autobiography"  recently 
published,  refers  to  M.  Thiers  in  a  paragraph  which  I  am  quite  sure 
foreshadows  the  judgment  of  Frenchmen  themselves,  when  with  the 
lapse  of  time  they  shall  become  able  to  write  and  to  read  their  own 
history  without  passion  and  without  prejudice. 

Mr.  White  says:  "  I  have  studied  M.  Thiers  as  a  historian,  observed 
him  as  a  statesman,  and  conversed  with  him  as  a  social  being,  and  he 
has  always  seemed,  and  still  seems  to  me,  the  most  noxious  of  all  the 
great  architects  of  ruin  that  France  produced  during  the  last  half  of 
the  nineteenth  century;  and  that  is  saying  much.  His  policy  was  to 
discredit  every  Government  which  he  found  existing,  in  order  that  its 
ruins  might  serve  him  as  a  pedestal;  and  while  he  certainly  showed 
great  skill  in  mitigating  the  calamities  which  he  did  so  much  to  cause, 
his  whole  career  was  damning.  ...  In  his  writings,  speeches,  and 
intrigues  he  aided  in  upsetting  not  only  the  rule  of  the  Bourbons  in 
1830,  but  the  rule  of  Louis  Philippe  in  1848,  the  Second  Republic  in 
1851,  the  Second  Empire  in  1870,  and,  had  he  lived,  he  would  have 
doubtless  done  the  same  by  the  present  Republic." 

It  would  be  hard  indeed  for  any  judicious,  unbiased  person  familiar 
with  recent  French  history,  to  come  to  any  other  conclusion.  And  the 
final  judgment  of  the  world  is  almost  sure  to  be  that  if  there  was  any 
man  living  in  France  at  any  time  during  the  nineteenth  century  to 
whom  the  epithet  of  "Vhomme  ncfaste  "  could  be  justly  applied  by  his 
countrymen,  that  man  was  Adolphe  Thiers. 


198         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

as  they  met  with  considerable  support  on  the  side  of  the 
majority  the  consequence  was  that  the  Emperor's  plan  for 
reorganizing  the  army  could  not  be  carried  out.* 

Nearly  two  years  later,  during  the  session  of  1868,  this 
measure  was  resubmitted  to  the  Chamber  of  Deputies,  but 
only  after  it  had  been  modified.  The  Emperor  now  pro- 
posed that  France  should  have  at  least  750,000  men  under 
arms,  including  the  reserves;  but  even  this  moderate  de- 
mand met  with  the  most  violent  opposition. 

M.  Magnin  (afterward  one  of  the  members  of  the  Gov- 
ernment of  the  4th  of  September,  and  one  of  those  Deputies 
who  voted  for  the  war)  said  in  the  Chamber: 

"  You  remember  what  an  outburst  of  discontent  was 
heard  all  over  France  at  the  announcement  of  the  former 
project  for  increasing  the  army.  Nobody  would  or  could 
accept  it.  It  was  submitted  to  the  State  Council,  which  ex- 
amined it  in  the  Session  of  March ;  and,  later,  it  was  placed 
again  before  us,  with  an  introduction  explaining  its  mo- 
tives, and  with  its  most  obnoxious  points  modified. 

'  In  fact,  the  project  in  its  new  form  reduced  the 
time  of  service.  There  were  still,  however,  160,000  men 
required.  In  the  active  army  the  service  was  to  be  of  five 
years'  and  in  the  reserve  of  seven  years'  duration.  Those 
who  did  not  serve  in  the  active  army  were  to  serve  four 
years  in  the  Garde  Mobile.  .  .  .  This  still  created  a  very 
violent  and  very  ardent  opposition,  which  was  shared  par- 
tially by  your  Commission,  and  I  offer  you  my  congratula- 
tions thereupon. 

' '  The  public  did  not  look  more  favorably  upon  the  new 
project  than  upon  the  preceding  one;  and  the  Emperor 
now  announces  to  you  that  other  modifications  will  be  made. 
'  It  is, '  he  says,  '  not  a  question  of  militarizing  the  country, 
but  of  modifying  certain  parts  of  the  law  of  1832.'  " 

M.    Jules    Simon    (a   member   of   the    Government   of 

*  See  Appendix  VI. 


THE    FRENCH    ARMY  199 

the  4th  of  September,  and  who  also  voted  for  the  war) 
said: 

"  Gentlemen,. the  chief  aim  of  the  project  first  pre- 
sented was  to  ask  for  an  army  of  1,200,000  men.  .  .  . 
I  insist,  before  going  farther,  upon  drawing  your  attention 
to  the  enormous  figure — 1,200,000!     .     .     . 

'  After  considerable  changes  which  are  due  to  public 
opinion,  to  the  zeal  of  the  members  of  the  Commission,  and 
the  concessions  made  by  the  Government,  we  have  finally 
come  to  the  present  project.  But  it  is  plainly  to  be  seen 
that  you  still  wish  to  have  an  army  of  800,000  men,  and, 
in  order  to  obtain  this,  you  wish  to  create  the  Garde  Mobile. 
The  law  which  proposes  this  is  not  only  a  hard  law,  but 
an  unmerciful  one;  one  that  weighs  heavily  upon  those 
who  are  called  to  serve,  and  at  the  same  time  upon  the 
whole  population;  because  quartering  the  Gardes  Mobiles 
in  the  houses  of  the  inhabitants  will  be  adding  a  new  tax 
to  those  which  already  oppress  us.  In  the  end,  the  political 
consequences  of  the  new  system  will  be  still  more  disastrous 
than  the  material  consequences;  and  the  law  proposed 
is  especially  bad,  because  it  will  increase  the  almightiness 
of  the  Emperor.     .     .     . 

'  The  important  point  is  not  the  number  of  soldiers, 
but  the  cause  they  have  to  defend.  If  the  Austrians  were 
beaten  at  Sadowa,  it  was  because  they  did  not  wish  to  fight 
for  the  House  of  Hapsburg  against  the  German  fatherland. 
Yes,  gentlemen,  there  is  only  one  cause  which  makes  an 
army  invincible,  and  that  is  liberty. ' ' 

Strangely  enough,  many  of  the  very  men  who  were  sys- 
tematically opposing  any  increase  of  the  army  were  most 
violent  in  their  denunciations  of  the  pacific  policy  of  the 
Imperial  Government  with  respect  to  Germany.  "  The 
soldier  is  a  white  slave,"  said  M.  Emile  de  Girardin  one 
day ;  and  the  next  day  he  claimed  the  Rhine  as  the  rightful 
frontier  of  France,  and,  working  himself  into  a  frenzy 
over  his  theme,  finally  shrieked  out:  "  If,  to  obtain  it,  it 


200         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

is  necessary  to  give  Europe  a  shower-bath  of  blood,  let  the 
shower-bath  be  given  to  Europe." 

The  proposed  law  in  its  modified  form  was  at  last 
adopted  in  1868.  By  this  enactment  the  regular  army  was 
increased  to  a  total  strength  of  744,568  men,  including  the 
reserves  (329,318)  ;  and  provision  was  made  for  the  mobil- 
ization of  500,000  National  Guards  for  the  defence  of 
the  fortresses.  But  the  Opposition  voted  against  it;  and 
among  those  who  opposed  it  were  Messrs.  Bethmont, 
Magnin,  Glais-Bizoin,  Dorian,  Jules  Favre,  Carnot,  Thiers, 
Jules  Simon,  Ernest  Picard,  Garnier-Pages,  and  Pelletan. 
Had  the  will  of  these  gentlemen  been  accomplished,  the 
army  would  have  been  much  smaller  than  it  was  when 
the  war  began. 

But  while  the  army  was  thus  officially  increased  in 
number,  its  effective  strength  was,  at  the  same  time,  actu- 
ally reduced  by  the  extension  given  to  a  pernicious  system 
of  furloughs  subservient  to  certain  political  interests,  and 
by  virtue  of  which  large  numbers  of  soldiers  were  permitted 
to  be  absent  from  the  ranks.  On  the  20th  of  March,  1868, 
Marshal  Niel  reported  to  the  Senate  that  of  the  regular 
troops  in  the  second  year  of  their  service,  twenty-five  per 
cent,  were  absent  on  a  six-months'  leave;  that  of  those  in 
the  third  year  of  their  service,  a  third  were  absent;  that 
of  the  fourth  year's  men,  two-fifths  were  absent;  and  that 
of  the  troops  in  the  last  year  of  their  service,  one-half  were 
absent  on  a  six-months'  furlough. 

When  war  was  declared  in  July,  1870,  more  than  a  third 
of  the  French  regular  army  was  absent  on  leave.  And, 
more  extraordinary  still,  it  was  discovered  that  the  cavalry 
horses  had  been  "  furloughed  "  to  the  farmers  in  about 
the  same  proportion.  And  these  furloughs  had  been 
granted  notwithstanding  the  repeated  warnings  the  Em- 
peror had  given  of  the  consequences  that  might  follow. 

If,  therefore,  France  had  too  small  an  army  at  the 
beginning  of  the  war  of  1870  (415,000  men,  not  counting 


THE    FRENCH    ARMY  201 

the  reserves),  and  the  rapid  mobilization  of  this  scattered 
army  was  impossible,  it  was  certainly  not  the  fault  of  the 
Emperor.  On  the  contrary,  the  responsibility  belongs  to 
those  politicians  who  prevented  him  from  doing  what  he 
earnestly  wished  to  do. 

Nor  does  the  responsibility  rest  entirely  or  even  prin- 
cipally upon  the  political  opponents  of  the  Government. 
The  Deputies  at  this  time  were  nearly  all  Imperialists,  nom- 
inally at  least;  and  if  the  Emperor's  proposition  to  reorgan- 
ize and  strengthen  the  army  failed  to  obtain  the  support  of 
the  majority  in  the  Legislative  Chamber,  it  was  because 
some  of  these  Deputies  honestly  believed  it  to  be  unneces- 
sary and  inexpedient,  and  others  were  more  anxious  about 
their  own  personal  popularity  with  their  taxpaying  constit- 
uents than  mindful  of  the  interests  of  the  Government  and 
of  the  nation.* 

The  time  now  had  suddenly  come  when  many  patriots 
recognized  the  serious  mistakes  that  had  been  made,  and 
deeply  regretted  that  the  number  of  French  soldiers  was 
not  greater.  But  the  nation  desired  war ;  and  the  Emperor 
considered  that  he  had  no  right,  even  had  he  the  power,  to 

*  These  statements  are  true;  but  they  fail  to  set  forth  the  whole 
truth.  Many  of  the  friends  of  the  Government  regarded  the  project 
as  one  that  endangered  the  stability  of  the  Empire.  A  majority  even 
of  the  Members  of  the  Emperor's  Cabinet  considered  it  to  be  politically 
inexpedient,  whatever  may  have  been  their  opinion  of  its  desirability 
from  a  military  point  of  view.  They  knew  that  the  people  generally 
were  strongly  opposed  to  increasing  the  number  of  men  liable  to  be 
called  into  active  military  service;  and,  especially,  to  any  law  that 
diminished  the  number  of  exempts.  So  very  unpopular  was  this  meas- 
ure that  after  it  was  finally  passed,  with  numerous  amendments  and 
ameliorations,  Gressier,  the  reporter,  failed  to  be  reelected  in  his  Canton. 
"  I  like  you  very  much,"  said  an  old  farmer  to  him,  "  but  I  shall  not  vote 
for  you — you  have  taken  my  son  from  me  and  made  him  a  soldier." 
The  Imperial  Government  could  count  upon  the  solid  vote  of  the  "rus- 
tics"— but  only  on  certain  conditions.  "  Un  jour,"  said  M.  Jules  Ferry, 
"les  masses  agricoles  montrerent  qu'elles  pouvaient  vouloir."  The  Em- 
peror knew  this;    but  he  wished  also  to  do  his  duty. 


:202         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

refuse  to  submit  to  the  national  will.  His  only  desire,  as  the 
representative  of  this  will,  was  to  do  the  best  that  could 
be  done  under  the  circumstances.  These  made  a  rapid 
movement  forward  imperative,  if  the  campaign  was  to 
succeed.  His  plan  was  to  attack  the  German  troops  on 
German  soil,  to  cross  the  Rhine  at  Maxau,  and  to  separate 
North  Germany  from  South  Germany.  But  the  passage 
of  the  Rhine  had  to  be  effected  before  the  enemy  could 
concentrate  near  that  river,  otherwise  the  execution  of  his 
plan  would  be  impossible  without  risking  great  losses.  All, 
therefore,  depended  upon  the  precision  and  quickness  of 
the  mobilization  of  the  French  army,  and  upon  its  readiness 
for  action. 

How  fearful,  then,  must  have  been  the  disappointment 
of  his  Majesty,  when,  on  his  arrival  at  Metz,  he  found  that 
nothing  was  in  readiness,  and  that  the  reports  which  he  had 
received  at  different  times  from  his  chief  military  officers 
were  incorrect  and  misleading. 

In  the  year  1868  Marshal  Niel  sent  a  report  to  the 
Emperor,  in  which  he  said  that  all  the  orders  had  been 
prepared  for  a  very  speedy  calling  out  of  the  soldiers  of 
the  reserve,  and  that,  thanks  to  the  measures  taken,  the 
several  corps  which  were  to  form  the  active  army  could 
be  made  up  ready  for  service,  in  case  of  an  emergency, 
within  a  space  of  nine,  or,  at  the  most,  of  fourteen  days. 
On  the  9th  of  April,  1869,  Marshal  Niel,  speaking  in  the 
Senate  on  the  state  of  the  army,  made  use  of  words  still 
more  assuring.  He  then  said:  "  Our  situation  is  such  at 
the  present  time  that,  if  we  will  maintain  it,  we  can  never 
be  surprised."  And  two  or  three  days  later,  in  the  same 
place,  he  declared:  "  To-day,  whether  we  are  in  peace  or 
at  war  is  not  of  the  slightest  consequence  to  the  Minister 
of  War;  he  is  always  ready."  Marshal  Leboeuf,  who  was 
the  successor  of  Marshal  Niel  as  Minister  of  War,  confirmed 
these  statements,  and  also  insisted  that  the  armies  would 


THE    FRENCH    ARMY  203 


be  ready  to  act  within  a  fortnight,  should  they  be 
called  out. 

On  the  6th  of  July,  1870,  Marshal  Lebceuf  submitted 
to  the  Emperor  a  schedule  of  the  military  forces  at  the 
disposition  of  the  Government.  According  to  this  state- 
ment there  should  have  been  350,000  regular  troops  on 
the  frontier  within  fourteen  days  after  the  calling  out  of 
the  reserves,  and  100,000  Gardes  Mobiles  besides.  This 
was  the  force  to  begin  with;  but  before  a  month  should 
have  elapsed,  400,000  troops  were  also  to  be  ready  for 
action.  To  this  force,  the  Marshal  said,  Prussia  would 
only  be  able  to  oppose  390,000  men,  and  that,  counting 
the  soldiers  of  the  Southern  States,  the  German  army 
would  have  a  strength  of  only  420,000  men.  (In  fact, 
the  three  German  armies  of  invasion  numbered  at  first 
but  338,000  men.)  Relying  upon  the  correctness  of  these 
reports,  the  Emperor  might  have  had  good  reason  to  hope 
for  success,  especially  as  his  plan  was  to  attack  the  Prussians 
before  the  armies  of  the  Southern  German  States  could 
be  united  with  them.  When,  however,  he  arrived  at  his 
head-quarters  three  weeks  later,  he  found,  to  his  great  dis- 
may, that  the  eight  French  army  corps  sent  to  the  frontier 
numbered  only  220,000  men. 

This  state  of  things  was  very  serious;  but  the  most 
alarming  discovery  made  was  the  fact  that  important 
instructions  which  the  Emperor  had  given  with  regard  to 
the  distribution  of  military  stores  of  every  sort,  even  to 
the  baggage  train,  had  not  been  obeyed,  although  Marshal 
Niel  had  reported  to  the  contrary.  As  the  result  of  this 
neglect,  the  mobilization  was  paralyzed  at  the  most  critical 
moment. 

The  letters  sent  by  the  Emperor  to  the  Empress  at 
this  time  were  most  discouraging.  "  He  was,"  she  said, 
"  navre.  Nothing  was  ready;  the  confusion  indescribable; 
the  plan  of  the  campaign  must  be  abandoned  on  account  of 
the  inevitable  delay." 


204         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

The  details  of  military  organization  are  not  very  in- 
teresting to  the  general  reader,  but  I  think  I  may  count 
upon  his  indulgence,  if  I  give  the  facts  in  a  single  case  that 
is  a  fair  example  of  many  others,  and  which  will  show 
plainly  what  reason  the  Emperor  had  for  believing  his  army 
ready  for  action  in  July,  1870;  as  also  that  the  non-execu- 
tion of  his  orders  was  among  the  causes  of  the  defeat 
of  the  French. 

In  the  year  1868  the  Emperor  inquired  at  his  War 
Department  how  long  it  would  take  to  have  in  readiness 
the  Government  wagons  that  were  stored  at  Vernon.  The 
answer  was  that  this  operation  would  take  several  months. 
Surprised  to  hear  such  a  reply,  he  immediately  gave  orders 
to  have  the  wagons  distributed  over  different  parts  of  the 
country;  and  the  Minister  of  War  reported  shortly  after- 
ward, in  the  following  words,  that  these  orders  were  in 
the  way  of  execution. 

"  The  concentration  of  all  the  baggage  wagons  at  Ver- 
non is  dangerous  in  case  of  a  war,  as  the  length  of  time 
necessary  for  making  ready  so  much  materiel  (6,700  wag- 
ons, 10,000  sets  of  harness,  etc.)  might  interfere  very  much 
with  a  quick  mobilization  of  the  army.  To  remedy  this 
difficulty,  the  following  measures  have  been  adopted : 

' '  Barracks  are  to  be  erected  in  the  Pare  de  Chateauroux 
for  about  1,200  wagons,  so  that  the  squadron  of  the  bag- 
gage train,  which  is  quartered  there,  will  find  its  wagons 
handy,  without  being  obliged  to  send  to  Vernon  for  them. 

"  Use  is  to  be  made  of  the  circumstance  that  a  detach- 
ment of  artillery  and  engineers  is  quartered  at  Satory, 
by  placing  there  all  those  wagons  which  have  to  be 
furnished  to  the  staffs  and  to  the  different  corps  of  these 
troops.     .     .     . 

"  Sheds  are  to  be  constructed  at  the  camp  of  Chalons 
for  about  600  wagons,  which  are  to  serve  for  the  baggage 
train  accompanying  the  first  divisions. 

"  The  regimental  wagons  which  are  to  serve  the  First 


THE    FRENCH    ARMY  205 

Corps    are    to    be    distributed    in    the    military    posts    of 
the  East. 

"  According  to  this  plan,  the  First  Army  will  be  able 
to  find,  between  the  camp  at  Chalons  and  the  frontier,  all 
the  wagons  that  it  will  need  for  the  march. 

' '  The  Army  of  Lyons  will  have  its  means  right  at  hand ; 
transportation  for  the  Army  of  Paris  will  be  at  Satory, 
and,  at  the  same  time,  the  parks  of  Chateauroux  and  Ver- 
non will  furnish  the  wagons  necessary  for  the  Second  and 
Third  Armies. 

"  At  this  moment  the  small  depots  of  the  East  are 
being  constructed ;  the  wagons  for  one  division  are  at  Metz ; 
at  Strasbourg  there  are  wagons  for  one  brigade,  and  at 
Besancon  for  one  regiment.  The  depot  of  Toul  will  be 
opened  in  a  few  days. 

"  The  constructions  to  be  made  at  Chalons,  according 
to  the  above  plan,  will  probably  be  finished  within  one 
month. 

'  Lyons  has  the  wagons  necessary  for  one  division  of 
infantry  and  one  division  of  cavalry ;  it  will  receive  within 
a  short  time  the  wagons  for  another  division  of  infantry — 
when  the  materiel  which  has  come  back  from  Civita  Vecchia 
has  been  repaired. 

"  The  barracks  which  are  at  present  being  erected 
at  Satory  will  hold  all  the  regimental  wagons. 

'  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  distribution  of  the  materiel 
will  be  accomplished  before  spring,  with  the  exception  of 
that  to  be  sent  to  the  Pare  de  Chateauroux,  as  the  works 
there  cannot  yet  be  commenced  on  account  of  the  condition 
of  the  ground." 

From  this  report   it   will   be  seen  that  the    Emperor 

had  a  right  to  believe  that  no  considerable  delay  would 

occur  with  respect  to  the  distribution  of  the  army  wagons. 

When  the  war  of  1870  began,  almost  two  years  had  elapsed 

since  the   arrangements   indicated   above  were,   according 

to  the  official  report,  to  be  immediately  completed.    What, 
15 


206         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

then,  will  the  reader  say  when  I  inform  him  that  these 
wagons  were  still  stored  up  at  Vernon  and  Satory  on  the 
outbreak  of  hostilities  in  the  year  1870,  and  that  it  was 
a  long  while  before  the  greater  part  of  them  could  be  sent 
to  the  different  corps,  thus  hampering  the  mobilization 
enormously  ? 

There  is  a  point  in  the  preceding  statement  which  should 
not  be  allowed  to  pass  unobserved,  namely,  the  wagons 
were  apparently  sufficient  in  number  to  meet  the  require- 
ments of  the  service.  In  fact,  the  rigid  parliamentary  in- 
quiry instituted  by  the  Government  of  the  Republic,  after 
the  war,  has  made  it  perfectly  clear  that  the  French  War 
Department  in  1870  was  well  supplied  with  nearly  all 
the  materiel  necessary  for  a  campaign,  with  the  troops  then 
at  the  disposal  of  the  Government.  The  fatal  error — 
the  unpardonable  blunder — of  Marshal  Lebceuf,  and  of 
his  predecessor,  Marshal  Niel,  consisted  not  so  much  in 
overestimating  the  number  of  "  gaiter  buttons  "  or  other 
military  stores  en  magazin,  as  in  underestimating  the  time 
necessary  to  deliver  these  supplies  where  they  were  needed, 
and  to  provide  for  their  regular  distribution.*  The  want 
of  something  somewhere  put  a  stop  to  every  effective 
movement  everywhere.    As  we  have  seen,  it  was  the  opinion 


*  Unpardonable  to  every  one  but  to  him  who  was  the  principal  suf- 
ferer. When  preparing  the  article  entitled  "Projet  d' organisation  de 
l'armee  du  Rhin,"  published  in  the  "Oeuvres  posthumes  de  Napoleon 
III,"  his  collaborator,  Count  de  la  Chapelle,  inserted  a  note  addressed  to 
the  Emperor  by  Marshal  Lebceuf,  in  July,  1870,  in  which  the  Marshal 
says:  "In  fifteen  days  I  can  at  any  time  throw  upon  the  frontier  an 
effective  force  of  400,000  men."  But  the  Emperor  would  not  consent 
to  have  it  published.  Writing  to  the  Count  on  the  subject  he  said :  "  Al- 
though the  first  document  under  the  name  'note  of  the  Minister  of  War' 
is  of  the  greatest  importance,  as  regards  my  own  responsibility,  I  prefer 
to  strike  it  out  as  it  accuses  too  clearly  poor  Marshal  Lebceuf  who  is  al- 
ready so  unfortunate.  Consequently  I  pray  you  to  suppress  it."  In- 
deed, the  Emperor  in  the  kindness  of  his  heart,  was  willing  to  pardon 
nearly  everything  and  everybody. 


THE   FRENCH    ARMY  207 

of  both  these  war  ministers  that  a  fortnight  would  be 
time  enough  in  which  to  equip  and  place  the  whole  French 
army  upon  a  war  footing.  Not  only  was  it  found  to  be 
impossible  to  do  this,  but  it  was  not  done  at  the  end  of 
a  month.  Nor  would  it  have  been  possible  in  a  much  longer 
time,  even  under  the  conditions  of  peace,  to  have  effectively 
mobilized  the  French  army,  and  got  its  whole  rather  com- 
plicated machinery  into  good  working  order. 

But,  strange  as  it  may  seem,  perhaps  in  no  particular 
was  the  French  army  less  prepared  to  enter  upon  a  cam- 
paign than  on  account  of  the  general  ignorance  of  the 
geography  of  the  country  to  be  invaded  and  the  absence 
of  maps  even  of  France  itself.  Detachments  and  whole 
Divisions  of  the  army  wandered  about,  not  knowing  exactly 
where  they  were  or  where  they  were  going.  The  ignorance 
of  the  French  general  staff  with  respect  to  the  topograph- 
ical features  of  the  ground  upon  which  the  battles  of  the 
war  were  to  be  fought  would  have  been  incredible,  had  not 
the  greatest  disasters  been  directly  precipitated  by  the  lack 
of  such  specific  information  and  knowledge.  There  were 
generals  who  believed  Wissembourg  was  in  Bavaria;  who 
did  not  know  that  the  Meuse  and  the  Moselle  were  two 
separate  rivers,  or  that  Sedan  was  a  fortified  place.  And 
why  should  they  be  expected  to  know  more  than  their  su- 
periors, if  the  story  be  true  that  is  related  of  one  of  the 
marshals  who  was  as  conspicuous  during  this  war  as  he 
was  unfortunate  in  his  leadership?  Having  occasion  to 
send  a  letter  to  Sydney,  New  South  Wales,  the  Marshal, 
so  it  is  reported,  asked  a  member  of  his  staff  if  he  could 
tell  him  where  Sydney  was.  "  In  England,"  was  the 
answer.  ' '  No, ' '  replied  another  member  of  the  staff,  ' '  you 
are  mistaken;  it  is  in  the  United  States."  Perplexed  by 
this    contradictory    information,    the    Marshal    cried    out, 

"  Send  for  de  H "   to  whom,   when  he   entered  the 

room,  the  Marshal  said,  ' '  Tell  me,  de  H ,  in  what  coun- 
try is  this  place,  Sydney  V     "In  New  South  Wales, ' '  was 


208         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

the  reply.  "  But  where  is  New  South  Wales?  '  "In 
Australia,  your  Excellency."  "  And  in  what  country  is 
Australia?  '  "In  the  Indian  Ocean,"  promptly  replied 
M.  de  H . 

"  Sapristi!  '  exclaimed  the  Marshal;  "  ce  diable  de 
H il  connait  tout!  "  (he  knows  everything). 

The  discovery  of  this  state  of  unreadiness,  that  it  was 
no  longer  possible  to  execute  his  plan  of  campaign,  must 
have  given  a  severe  shock  to  the  monarch,  who  foresaw  what 
evil  consequences  would  inevitably  arise  from  it;  and  it 
is  reported  that  on  the  day  of  his  arrival  at  Metz,  when 
he  recognized  the  situation  of  the  army  and  in  what  manner 
his  orders  had  been  executed,  the  perspiration  came  out 
upon  his  forehead  in  great  drops,  and  that  he  exclaimed, 
"  We  are  lost!  " 

And,  as  if  the  disorder  and  absence  of  preparation  vis- 
ible on  all  sides  were  not  sufficiently  discouraging,  the 
Emperor  found  lying  on  his  desk  at  the  Prefecture  some 
thirty  anonymous  letters  denouncing  the  incapacity  of  his 
generals,  and  demanding  that  they  should  be  superseded  or 
discharged.  Certainly  one  of  the  most  extraordinary  things 
that  ever  happened  to  a  sovereign  on  the  eve  of  battle ! 

That  the  delay  required  to  prepare  the  army  for 
active  service  was  the  proximate  cause  of  the  French  re- 
verses in  the  first  battles  of  the  war  has  since  been  uni- 
versally acknowledged. 

Napoleon  III.  therefore  stated  the  case  with  absolute 
accuracy  when  he  wrote,  on  the  29th  of  October,  from 
Wilhelmshohe,  to  a  distinguished  English  general:  "  Our 
disasters  have  arisen  from  the  fact  that  the  Prussians  were 
ready  before  we  were,  and  that  we  were  taken,  so  to  say, 
en  flagrant  delit  de  formation." 

As  one  might  have  expected  from  the  manner  in  which 
the  campaign  was  opened,  so  it  went  on.  The  Germans 
gained  one  victory  after  another,  and  the  situation  of  the 
French  troops  grew  from  day  to  day  more  difficult. 


SEDAN    AND    BISMARCK  209 

When  the  news  of  the  first  defeats  became  known  in 
Paris,  it  created  general  consternation.  Public  opinion  rec- 
ognized the  incapacity  of  Marshal  Lebceuf,  and  the  Pari- 
sians began  also  to  mistrust  the  capacity  of  his  Majesty  as 
Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Army  of  the  Rhine.  The  Em- 
peror therefore  considered  it  wise  not  only  to  accept  the 
resignation  of  the  Marshal,  but  also  to  lay  down  his  own 
military  command.  There  now  remained  for  him  nothing 
but  to  choose  an  able  successor. 

In  a  council  of  the  chiefs  of  the  Army  Corps,  stationed 
at  that  time  near  Metz,  it  was  finally  decided  that  Marshal 
Bazaine  should  be  appointed  Commander  of  the  Army  of 
the  Rhine,  assisted  by  Marshal  MacMahon,  who  was  to 
take  command  of  his  own  army  corps,  as  well  as  of  the 
corps  of  Generals  de  Failly  and  Felix  Douay,  and  of  the 
new  columns  which  were  being  formed  at  Chalons. 

On  the  16th  of  August  his  Majesty  made  another  con- 
cession to  public  opinion.  At  the  suggestion  of  some  of  his 
generals,  and  at  the  urgent  request  of  Prince  Napoleon,  he 
appointed  General  Trochu  Governor  of  Paris — an  appoint- 
ment which,  as  will  be  seen  in  the  following  chapters,  had 
very  serious  consequences. 

Napoleon  III.  unselfishly  yielded  to  the  wishes  of  his 
people,  by  entrusting  the  most  responsible  posts  to  men 
whom  the  military  experts  and  public  opinion  had  declared 
to  be  the  most  capable ;  *  but  the  concessions  which  his 

*  These  appointments  were  at  the  time  unanimously  commended. 
When  Count  de  Palikao  announced  to  the  National  Assembly  that  the 
Army  of  the  Rhine  was  under  the  command  of  Marshal  Bazaine,  that 
the  Marshal  was  the  only  General-in-Chief,  the  applause  was  great. 
"  Then,"  cried  M.  Barthelemy  Saint  Hilaire,  "  Marshal  Bazaine  is 
Generalissimo.  That  will  give  confidence  to  the  country."  Jules 
Ferry  declared  that  this  appointment  gave  full  satisfaction  to  the 
Chamber  and  would  be  approved  by  the  whole  country.  Gambetta 
afterward  spoke  of  the  Marshal  as  "our  glorious  Bazaine";  and  the 
anti-Imperialist  faction  even  claimed  the  honor  of  having  forced  the 
Government  to  place  the  command  of  the  army  in  the  hands  of  this 


210         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

Majesty  made  proved  fatal,  for  they  led  swiftly  to  the 
disaster  of  Sedan. 

The  events  which  took  place  during  those  last  fateful 
days  of  his  reign,  are  vividly  described  in  a  paper  written 
by  the  Emperor  shortly  before  his  death.  The  following 
pages  contain  a  translation  of  a  part  of  this  narrative : 

'  On  the  30th  of  August,  at  four  o'clock  in  the  after- 
noon, the  Emperor  and  the  Duke  of  Magenta  were  on  the 
heights  of  Mouzon,  where  the  Twelfth  Corps  was  in  posi- 
tion. Both  had  alighted  from  their  horses.  The  artillery 
of  General  de  Failly  was  heard  in  the  distance,  and  General 
Pajol,  who  had  made  a  reconnaissance  in  order  to  judge 
how  matters  stood,  had  brought  back  the  news  that  the 
Fifth  Corps  was  retiring  upon  Mouzon.  The  Marshal  then 
told  the  Emperor  that  the  whole  army  would  soon  have 
passed  to  the  right  bank  of  the  Meuse ;  that  he  himself  did 
not  wish  to  leave  Mouzon  before  the  operation  was  com- 
pleted, but  that  all  was  going  well.  He  advised  the  Em- 
peror to  repair  to  Carignan,  where  the  First  Corps  must  al- 
ready have  arrived,  and  where  the  head-quarters  were  to 
be  established. 

'  Napoleon  III.  therefore  departed  full  of  confidence 
as  to  the  result  of  the  day.  But  scarcely  an  hour  after 
his  arrival  at  Carignan,  General  Ducrot  came  to  him  with 
the  most  alarming  news :  the  Fifth  Corps  had  been  thrown 
back  in  disorder  on  Mouzon,  along  with  the  brigade  that 
was  sent  to  its  aid ;  and  the  Marshal  begged  the  Emperor  to 
go  as  quickly  as  possible  to  Sedan,  to  which  place  the  army 


general  officer.  M.  de  Kgratry,  while  admitting  that  this  appointment 
was  the  work  of  the  anti-Imperialists,  justifies  their  act,  and,  by  impli- 
cation, gives  to  the  Emperor  all  the  justification  in  the  matter  that  the 
truth  of  history  requires.  M.  de  Keratry  says:  "The  Opposition,  in 
presenting  to  the  Regent  the  name  of  the  Marshal  for  the  post  of  Com- 
mander-in-Chief, was  moved  only  by  a  pure  sentiment  of  patriotism, 
having  in  mind  but  one  thing,  the  thoroughly  tried  military  talent  of 
the  Marshal." 


SEDAN    AND    BISMARCK  211 

would  retire.  The  Emperor  could  not  believe  that  the 
scene  had  so  completely  changed  within  a  few  hours;  he 
therefore  wished  to  remain  with  the  First  Corps,  but  at 
the  solicitation  of  General  Ducrot  he  decided  to  take  the 
train,  and  arrived  at  eleven  o'clock  in  the  night  at  Sedan. 
Here  he  was  urged  to  continue  his  route  as  far  as  Mezieres 
while  the  railway  was  still  free.  He  could  there  rally  the 
corps  of  General  Vinoy,  and  establish  a  new  center  of 
resistance  in  one  of  the  strongholds  of  the  North;  but  he 
thought  that,  in  this  case,  he  would  be  accused  of  seeking 
his  own  personal  safety,  and  he  therefore  preferred  to  share 
the  fate  of  the  army,  whatever  it  might  be.  The  equipages 
and  escort  having  been  left  behind  at  Carignan,  the  Em- 
peror, alone  and  on  foot,  followed  by  his  aides-de-camp, 
in  the  silence  of  the  night  entered  the  city  of  Sedan,  which 
was  about  to  be  the  theater  of  such  terrible  events. 

"  Sedan,  classed  among  the  fortified  places,  is  situated 
upon  the  right  bank  of  the  Meuse;  only  the  suburbs  of 
Torcy  lie  upon  the  left  bank.  They  are  covered  by  ad- 
vanced works  which  form  a  vast  tete  de  pout.  Formerly 
the  city,  owing  to  the  feeble  range  of  the  cannon  then  in 
use,  was  protected  by  the  hills  which  surround  it.  At  the 
present  time  it  is  exposed  to  the  artillery  of  the  enemy  when 
placed  upon  the  heights  which  rise  upon  both  sides  of  the 
Meuse.  Moreover,  in  the  year  1870  it  was  incompletely 
armed,  badly  provisioned,  and  possessed  no  outworks.  On 
the  right  bank  of  the  river  are  two  tributaries,  which  form 
right  angles  with  it — the  Floing  below  and  the  Givonne 
above  the  city.  One  of  these  little  streams  runs  out  from 
the  village  of  Illy  to  that  of  Floing,  and  the  other  from  the 
village  of  Givonne  to  that  of  Bezailles;  they  surround 
the  territory  where  the  battle  was  about  to  take  place.  The 
prominent  points  of  the  battle-field  are  the  Calvary  of  Illy, 
near  the  village  of  the  same  name,  and  the  forest  of  La 
Garenne,  situated  west  of  the  village  of  Givonne.  The 
only  route  upon  which  a  free  communication  with  Mezieres? 


212         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

was  possible  was  the  highroad  passing  through  the  vil- 
lages of  Floing,  Saint  Albert,  Vrigne-aux-Bois,  and  Tume- 
court. 

' '  In  order  to  secure  a  retreat  upon  Mezieres,  the  narrow 
defile  which  extends  from  Floing,  in  the  direction  of 
Vrigne-aux-Bois,  should  have  been  strongly  occupied,  the 
place  itself  should  have  been  abandoned,  and  the  left  wing 
ought  to  have  rested  upon  the  heights  of  Illy  and  of  the 
Givonne. 

"  General  Ducrot,  it  must  be  recognized,  had  correctly 
estimated  the  position.  It  was  at  the  Calvary  of  Illy 
that  he  wished  to  establish  the  center  of  resistance.  On 
the  31st  of  August,  however,  the  troops  were  placed  in 
position  around  the  town ;  they  were  distributed  in  a  semi- 
circle, from  which  Sedan  as  a  center  was  distant  some 
3,000  meters,  the  extremities  touching  the  villages  of 
Bazeilles  and  Floing. 

"  From  this  semicircular  position  it  was  inevitable  that 
the  line  of  retreat  must  be  toward  the  center;  and  that 
if  the  troops  were  repulsed,  they  would,  by  a  natural  in- 
stinct, precipitate  themselves  toward  the  city,  which  thus 
became  an  entonnoir  (a  funnel)  to  engulf  them.  To 
the  north  of  Sedan  are  the  remains  of  an  abandoned  en- 
trenchment called  the  Old  Camp,  which  overlooks  the 
surrounding  ravines;  and  all  the  ground  which  extends 
to  the  south  of  this  camp  is  covered,  as  General  Ducrot 
says,  '  with  stone  walls,  with  gardens  and  hedges,  and 
with  a  certain  number  of  houses,  which,  joining  those  at 
the  lower  end  of  Givonne,  made  of  this  spot  a  veritable 
labyrinth.  Defended  by  a  few  solid  troops,  it  would  have 
been  very  difficult  to  dislodge  them;  but,  on  the  contrary, 
if  a  large  body  of  soldiers,  repulsed  and  in  disorder,  should 
retire  here  for  shelter,  it  would  be  impossible  to  rally  and 
reform  them.' 

"  It  was  upon  this  uneven  ground  which  we  have  just 
described  that  on  the  1st  of  September,  in  the  morning, 


SEDAN    AND    BISMARCK  213 

the  battle  began.  The  enemy  attacked  simultaneously  our 
two  wings,  evidently  intending  to  surround  us  and  cut  off 
our  retreat. 

"  The  Marshal,  Duke  of  Magenta,  at  once  repaired  to 
the  outposts,  and  the  Emperor,  to  whom  he  had  sent  news 
of  this  movement,  mounted  his  horse  and  followed  him, 
accompanied  by  his  staff  and  a  troop  of  guides. 

"  It  is  easy  to  understand  his  state  of  mind.  No  longer 
exercising  the  functions  of  General-in-Chief,  he  was  not 
sustained  by  the  feeling  of  responsibility  which  inspires  the 
soul  of  him  who  commands;  nor  did  he  feel  the  uplifting 
excitement  of  those  who  are  acting  under  orders,  and  who 
know  that  their  devotion  may  lead  to  victory.  The  power- 
less witness  of  a  foregone  defeat,  convinced  that  on  this 
fatal  day  his  life,  as  well  as  his  death,  was  useless  for  the 
common  safety,  he  advanced  to  the  field  of  battle  with  that 
stolid  resignation  which  faces  danger  without  weakness, 
but  also  without  enthusiasm. 

"  On  departing  from  the  Sub-Prefecture,  the  Emperor 
met  Marshal  MacMahon,  who  was  being  brought  back 
wounded  in  an  ambulance  wagon.  After  having  exchanged 
a  few  words  with  him,  he  proceeded  in  the  direction  of  the 
village  of  Bazeilles,  where  the  division  of  marines  was  hotly 
engaged.  At  Balan,  General  de  Vassoigne  gave  him  an  ac- 
count of  the  position  of  the  troops.  As  every  group  of  offi- 
cers immediately  attracted  the  fire  of  the  enemy,  the  Em- 
peror left  his  escort  and  most  of  his  aides-de-camp,  with  a 
battalion  of  chasseurs  that  was  screened  by  a  wall,  and  went 
forward,  followed  only  by  four  persons,  towards  an  open 
height  from  which  a  view  of  the  greater  portion  of  the 
field  of  battle  could  be  obtained. 

"  At  this  moment  General  Ducrot,  to  whom  Marshal 
MacMahon  had  transferred  the  command,  was  executing 
a  retreat,  which  under  the  existing  circumstances  was  the 
best  course  to  take.  The  Emperor  sent  to  him  one  of 
his  orderly  officers,  Captain  d'Hendicourt,  to  ascertain  the 


214         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

direction  he  wished  to  give  to  the  troops.  This  promising 
young  officer  never  reappeared;  he  was  probably  killed 
by  a  shell.  The  entire  ground  upon  which  the  party  stood 
was  plowed  by  the  enemy's  projectiles,  that  were  bursting 
around  them  on  every  side. 

'  After  remaining  several  hours  between  La  Moncelle 
and  Givonne,  the  Emperor  wished  to  go  over  to  the  lines 
of  infantry  which  could  be  seen  to  the  left,  on  the  heights, 
but  were  separated  from  him  by  an  impassable  ravine. 
In  order  to  reach  them,  he  had  to  make  a  circuit,  which 
brought  him  upon  the  ground  cut  across  by  hollows,  hedges, 
and  garden  walls,  that  formed  the  labyrinth  mentioned 
above.  In  the  ravine,  called  the  '  Bottom  of  Givonne,'  the 
roads  were  crowded  with  the  wounded,  who  were  being 
carried  to  the  ambulances;  and  a  park  of  artillery  blocked 
the  avenues,  through  which  Goze's  division  could  proceed 
only  with  the  greatest  difficulty.  When  the  Imperial  party 
arrived  near  the  old  entrenched  camp,  a  farther  advance 
became  impossible,  as  they  met  the  infantry  that  occupied 
this  place  in  the  act  of  retiring  in  good  order  towards 
the  town.  It  was  now  evident  that  every  line  of  retreat 
was  cut  off  by  the  enemy,  who  occupied  the  circumference ; 
for  the  projectiles  directed  toward  the  center  struck  the 
troops  both  in  front  and  in  the  rear.  Many  of  the 
soldiers,  alleging  that  they  were  without  cartridges,  were 
hurrying  towards  the  only  gate  of  the  town  which  re- 
mained open. 

"  After  having  been  during  nearly  five  hours  the  wit- 
ness of  a  struggle  the  end  of  which  could  be  foreseen,  the 
Emperor,  despairing  of  being  able  to  reach  the  heights 
of  Illy  from  the  place  where  he  was,  decided  to  go  back 
to  the  town  to  confer  with  the  wounded  Marshal,  and  in 
the  hope  of  leaving  it  again  through  the  gate  that  opens 
on  the  departmental  road  to  Mezieres.  Three  officers  of 
his  staff  had  been  wounded  at  his  side  and  carried  away 
by  the  soldiers ;  these  were  the  circumstances  under  which 


SEDAN    AND    BISMARCK  215 

he  returned  to  the  Sub-Prefecture,  several  shells  bursting 
in  front  of  his  horse,  but  without  harming  him.* 

"  The  road  by  which  he  wished  to  pass  out,  he  ordered 
to  be  reconnoitered  at  once;  but  he  was  informed  that  the 
Mezieres  gate  was  barricaded,  that  it  was  impossible  to 
get  through  it,  and  that  the  streets  through  which  he  had 
just  come  were  already  blocked  by  a  confused  mass  of 
men,  horses,  and  wagons.  It  was  necessary,  therefore,  to 
remain  in  the  town  and  await  events.  Toward  three  o'clock 
an  aide-de-camp  of  General  de  Wimpfen,  who,  as  senior 
officer,  had  taken  the  command-in-chief,  succeeded  with 
great  difficulty  in  making  his  way  to  the  Sub-Prefecture. 
He  came  to  propose  to  the  Emperor  to  place  himself  at 
the  head  of  such  troops  as  could  be  rallied,  and  to  make 
an  attempt  to  cut  through  the  enemy 's  lines  in  the  direction 
of  Carignan.  The  first  impulse  of  Napoleon  III.  was  to 
accept  the  proposal ;  but  he  soon  saw  that,  not  to  speak 
of  the  difficulty  of  getting  through  the  crowded  streets  on 
horseback,  it  would  be  unbecoming  for  him  to  sacrifice,  in 
order  to  save  himself,  the  lives  of  a  great  many  soldiers, 
and  to  escape  with  the  Commander-in-Chief,  abandoning 
the  rest  of  the  army,  and  leaving  it  without  a  head,  exposed 
to  certain  loss.  He  refused,  therefore,  to  accept  General 
de  Wimpfen 's  offer. 

'  During  this  time  the  situation  had  assumed  a  more 
and  more  serious  character.  The  heroic  charges  of  the 
cavalry  had  not  been  able  to  arrest  the  advances  of  the 
enemy.    The  brave  General  Margueritte,  mortally  wounded, 

*  With  that  forgetfulness  of  everything  which  was  strictly  personal 
to  himself,  so  characteristic  of  him,  the  Emperor  makes  no  allusion 
to  the  physical  tortures  he  was  all  this  time  suffering.  After  he  had  dis- 
mounted, when  no  longer  able  to  sit  in  the  saddle,  he  was  compelled 
several  times,  while  walking  over  the  ground  he  here  describes,  to  stop 
and  take  hold  of  a  tree  to  support  himself,  to  keep  from  falling. 
"Finally,"  says  M.  Paul  de  Cassagnac,  "I  helped  him  into  a  carriage; 
and  on  arriving  at  the  Sub-Prefecture,  he  walked  some  thirty  yards 
leaning  on  my  arm,  scarcely  able  to  drag  himself  along.'' 


216         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

had  just  been  brought  at  his  request  beside  the  Emperor. 
At  this  moment  the  surrounding  hills  on  both  sides  of 
the  Meuse  were  lined  with  several  hundred  pieces  of  ar- 
tillery, which  by  a  converging  fire  threw  their  projectiles 
into  the  city.  Houses  were  on  fire,  roofs  were  crushed  in, 
and  death  made  many  victims  in  the  crowded  streets,  in 
the  barracks  which  were  transformed  into  hospitals,  and 
in  the  courtyards,  where  soldiers  from  every  branch  of 
the  service  had  taken  refuge. 

"  In  the  meantime  the  commanders  of  the  three  army 
corps,  Generals  Lebrun,  Douay,  and  Ducrot,  came  one  after 
the  other  to  declare  to  the  Emperor  that  further  resistance 
had  become  impossible;  that  the  soldiers,  after  having 
fought  for  twelve  hours  without  rest  or  food,  were  discour- 
aged; that  all  those  who  had  not  been  able  to  get  into  the 
town  were  huddled  together  in  the  trenches  and  against  the 
walls ;  and  that  it  was  necessary  to  come  to  some  decision.* 

"  From  the  day  of  leaving  Chalons  up  to  this  time  the 
Emperor  had  considered  it  to  be  his  duty  not  to  interfere  in 
any  way  whatsoever  with  the  arrangements  and  decisions 
of  the  Commander-in-Chief;  but  at  this  supreme  moment, 
when,  by  an  unheard-of  fatality,  80,000  men  appeared  to 
be  exposed  to  certain  death  without  being  able  to  make  any 
resistance,  he  remembered  that  he  was  the  sovereign ;  that 
he  had  charge  of  souls;  and  that  he  ought  not  to  let  men 
be  massacred  before  his  eyes  who  on  some  future  occasion 
might  be  able  to  serve  their  country. 

*  "  The  streets  were  full  of  the  wounded  and  the  dead.  All  the  su- 
perior officers  had  either  been  killed  or  wounded.  As  for  our  batteries, 
they  were  fought  against  ten  times  their  number,  superior  also  in  range 
and  accuracy  of  fire.  These  batteries  were  served  until  they  were  silenced 
or  destroyed;  in  some  of  them  not  a  horse,  not  a  man  was  left.  The  cais- 
sons blew  up  like  fireworks.  The  cavalry  of  Margueritte,  those  grizzly  old 
chasseurs  d'Afrique,  those  heroes,  charged  three  times,  and  three  times 
were  dashed  to  pieces.  They  did  their  duty.  But  human  strength  has 
its  limits;  and  when  we  entered  into  Sedan  we  were  helpless — nothing 
more  could  be  done." — General  Ducrot-Wimpjen  versus  de  Cassagnac. 


SEDAN    AND    BISMARCK  217 

"  Napoleon  III.  accordingly  sent  one  of  his  aides-de- 
camp up  to  the  citadel  in  order  to  assure  himself  of  the  state 
of  things.  The  officer  with  very  great  difficulty  succeeded 
in  passing  through  the  streets  and  in  reaching  the  citadel, 
which  itself  was  filled  with  soldiers  who  had  taken  refuge 
there.  The  report  which  this  aide-de-camp  brought  back 
confirmed  the  words  of  the  corps  commanders.  The  Em- 
peror, in  consequence,  sent  General  Lebrun  to  General  de 
Wimpfen  with  the  advice  that  he  should  ask  for  a  suspen- 
sion of  hostilities,  which  would  give  time,  if  it  were  ac- 
corded, to  collect  the  wounded  and  to  consider  what  it  was 
best  to  do.  General  Lebrun  not  returning,  and  the  number 
of  victims  increasing  every  moment,  the  Emperor  took  it 
upon  himself  to  order  that  a  flag  of  truce  be  hoisted.  Na- 
poleon III.  fully  understood  the  responsibility  he  thereby 
incurred,  and  he  foresaw  the  accusations  which  wrould  be 
brought  against  him.  The  situation  appeared  to  him  in 
all  its  gravity;  and  the  remembrance  of  a  glorious  past, 
in  its  contrast  with  the  present,  increased  the  bitterness  of 
the  moment.  Who  wTould  ever  admit  that  the  army  of 
Sebastopol  and  Solferino  could  be  forced  to  lay  down  its 
arms'?  How  would  it  ever  be  possible  to  make  the  world 
understand  that,  when  confined  within  narrow  limits,  the 
more  numerous  the  troops  the  greater  must  be  the  confu- 
sion, and  the  less  the  possibility  of  reestablishing  the  order 
indispensable  for  fighting? 

'  The  prestige  which  the  French  army  so  justly  enjoyed 
was  about  to  vanish  in  a  moment;  and,  in  the  presence  of 
a  calamity  without  precedent,  the  Emperor,  although  hav- 
ing had  no  hand  in  the  military  movements  that  led  to  it, 
was  to  remain  alone  responsible  in  the  eyes  of  the  world 
for  this  great  disaster,  and  for  all  the  misfortunes  which 
the  wrar  might  bring  in  its  train !  And,  as  if  at  this  last 
hour  nothing  should  be  lacking  to  increase  the  gravity  of 
the  situation,  General  de  AVimpfen  sent  his  resignation  to 
the  Emperor;  thus  leaving  the  overwhelmed  and  disbanded 


218         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

army  without  a  chief,  and  without  guidance,  at  a  time  when 
the  greatest  energy  was  necessary  to  establish  a  little  order, 
and  to  treat  with  the  enemy  with  a  better  chance  of  suc- 
cess. The  resignation  was  not  accepted;  and  the  General- 
in-Chief  was  made  to  understand  that,  having  commanded 
during  the  battle,  his  duty  obliged  him  not  to  desert  his 
post  in  these  very  critical  circumstances. 

1  While  the  white  flag  was  being  hoisted,  a  Prussian 
officer  asked  permission  to  enter  head-quarters. 

'  Through  him  it  was  learned  that  the  King  of  Prussia 
was  at  the  gates  of  the  town,  but  that  he  was  ignorant  of 
the  presence  of  Napoleon  III.  in  Sedan. 

'  Under  these  circumstances,  the  Emperor  believed  that 
the  only  thing  which  remained  for  him  to  do  was  to  ad- 
dress himself  directly  to  the  ruler  of  Northern  Germany. 

'  It  had  so  often  been  repeated  in  the  journals  that 
the  King  of  Prussia  was  not  making  war  against  France, 
but  against  the  Emperor  only,  that  the  latter  was  persuaded 
he  might,  by  disappearing  from  the  scene  and  putting 
himself  into  the  hands  of  the  victor,  obtain  the  least  dis- 
advantageous conditions  for  the  army,  and  might  give, 
at  the  same  time,  an  opportunity  to  the  Regent  to  conclude 
a  peace  in  Paris.  He  therefore  sent  by  General  Reille,  one 
of  his  aides-de-camp,  a  letter  to  the  King  of  Prussia,  in 
which  he  announced  that  he  would  surrender  to  him  his 
sword. 

"  The  King,  surrounded  by  his  staff,  received  General 
Reille,  and  taking  in  his  hand  the  letter  which  he  brought, 
opened  it  and  read  the  following  words: 


<  <  < 
<  <  < 


Monsieur  mon  Frere  : 

N'ayant  pas  pu  mourir  au  milieu  de  mes  troupes,  il 
ne  me  reste  plus  qu'a  remettre  mon  epee  entre  les  mains 
de  votre  Majeste. 

"  '  Je  suis  de  votre  Majeste  le  bon  frere, 

"  '  Napoleon.' 


o 

w 

o 

ft 

o 

H  53 
H  g 
W    .53 


£    > 


i— i      be 

J  .s 


5  - 
2  ° 

o  1 

ft       - 

O 
rh     ^ 

S  I 

ft 


K     " 

<a    2 

tq   fa 

ft. 
w 

(-5 


SEDAN    AND    BISMARCK  219 

("  '  My  Brother: 

"  '  Having  been  unable  to  die  among  my  troops,  the 
only  thing  I  can  now  do  is  to  place  my  sword  in  the  hands 
of  your  Majesty. 

"  '  I  am,  your  Majesty's  good  brother, 

"  '  Napoleon.') 

"  At  first  King  William  seemed  astonished  that  the 
letter  did  not  announce  the  capitulation  of  the  town  and 
army ;  but  having  been  informed  that  General  de  Wimpf en 
was  the  French  Commander-in-Chief,  he  requested  the 
presence  of  this  General  at  the  Prussian  head-quarters  that 
evening. ' '  * 

The  meeting  took  place  late  in  the  evening,  in  the 
village  of  Donchery,  the  persons  present  being,  on  the  one 
side,  General  von  Moltke,  Count  Bismarck,  General  von 
Blumenthal,  and  a  number  of  officers;  and,  on  the  other 
side,  General  de  Wimpfen,  General  Castelnau,  and  Gen- 
eral Faure.  General  de  Wimpfen  opened  the  conference 
by  asking  what  conditions  the  King  of  Prussia  wished  to 
impose  upon  the  French  army  were  it  to  surrender.  "  They 
are  very  simple,"  replied  General  von  Moltke;  "  the  whole 
army  are  to  be  considered  as  prisoners,  with  their  arms 
and  baggage.  We  will  allow  the  officers  to  retain  their 
arms,  as  a  testimonial  of  our  esteem  for  their  courage ;  but 
they  will  be  held  as  prisoners  of  war,  like  the  troops." 

General  de  AArimpfen  at  first  tried  to  obtain  conces- 
sions by  appealing  to  the  generosity  of  the  German  com- 
mander. When  he,  however,  saw  that  the  latter  remained 
immovable,  he  broke  out  as  follows : 

1  Well,  if  you  cannot  offer  us  better  conditions,  I 
will  appeal  to  my  army — to  its  honor;  and  I  will  succeed 
in  breaking  through  your  lines,  or  I  will  defend  myself 
in  Sedan." 


*  "  CEuvres  Posthumes  de  Napoleon  III."    E.  Lachaud,  Paris,  1873, 
p.  325  ff. 


220         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

Whereupon  the  Prussian  General,  who  was  perfectly 
informed  as  to  the  situation  of  both  armies,  explained 
so  clearly  the  actual  state  of  things  to  the  French  com- 
mander, that  General  de  Wimpfen,  seeing  that  from  a 
strategic  point  of  view  his  threat  was  without  weight, 
turned  to  the  political  side  of  the  question,  and  said : 

"  You  are  going  to  conclude  peace,  and  doubtless  you 
wish  to  do  this  at  once.  The  French  nation  is  more  gen- 
erous and  chivalrous  than  any  other  nation,  and  conse- 
quently it  knows  how  to  appreciate  the  generosity  which 
is  shown  to  it,  and  is  grateful  for  the  consideration  that 
is  bestowed  upon  it.  If  you  accord  to  us  terms  which 
are  flattering  to  the  amour  propre  of  our  army,  the  nation 
will  be  equally  flattered;  and  then  the  bitterness  of  the 
defeat  will  be  diminished  in  the  hearts  of  the  people,  and 
a  peace  that  is  concluded  on  such  conditions  will  have  a 
chance  of  being  durable. 

"  If  you,  on  the  contrary,  insist  upon  rigorous  meas- 
ures against  us,  you  surely  will  excite  anger  and  hatred 
in  the  heart  of  every  soldier,  and  the  pride  of  the  whole 
nation  will  be  grievously  wounded;  for  it  considers  itself 
in  fellowship  with  the  army  and  shares  its  emotions. 

"  You,  therefore,  will  awaken  all  the  dangerous  in- 
stincts that  are  slumbering  under  the  cover  of  an  advanced 
civilization,  and  you  may  kindle  the  flames  of  an  intermi- 
nable war  between  France  and  Germany." 

Moltke  remained  silent,  but  Count  Bismarck  answer- 
ing, said: 

"  At  the  first  glance,  General,  your  argument  seems 
serious;  but,  in  fact,  it  is  only  specious  and  cannot  stand 
discussion.  One  ought  to  count,  in  general,  very  little 
upon  gratitude,  and  never  upon  the  gratitude  of  a  nation. 
There  are  times  when  the  gratitude  of  a  sovereign  may  be 
expected;  in  some  cases,  also,  that  of  his  family;  in  some 
exceptional  cases,  entire  confidence  even  may  be  placed  in 
the  gratitude  of  these.    But  I  repeat  it,  one  must  expect 


SEDAN    AND    BISMARCK  221 

nothing  from  the  gratitude  of  a  nation.  If  the  French 
nation  were  like  any  other  nation;  if  it  had  solid  institu- 
tions ;  if,  like  our  own,  it  lived  in  the  reverence  and  respect 
of  these  institutions ;  if  there  sat  upon  its  throne  a  sovereign 
firmly  established,  then  we  could  take  into  account  the 
gratitude  of  the  Emperor  and  his  son.  But  in  France, 
the  Governments,  during  the  last  eighty  years,  have  been 
so  little  durable,  so  multitudinous,  they  have  changed  with 
such  extraordinary  rapidity,  and  so  entirely  against  all 
expectation,  that  one  cannot  count  upon  anything  in  your 
country.  If  a  neighboring  nation  were  to  found  hopes 
upon  the  friendship  of  a  French  sovereign,  it  would  com- 
mit an  act  of  craziness — it  would  be  like  building  in  the 
air. 

"  Moreover,  it  would  be  folly  to  imagine  that  France 
could  pardon  our  success.  You  are  an  irritable  people, 
envious,  jealous,  and  proud  to  excess.  Within  the  last  two 
hundred  years,  France  has  declared  war  thirty  times  against 
Prussia,  [correcting  himself],  against  Germany;  and  this 
time  you  have  declared  war  against  us,  as  always,  through 
jealousy,  because  you  are  not  able  to  pardon  us  our  victory 
of  Sadowa.  And  yet  Sadowa  cost  you  nothing,  and  could 
diminish  in  no  way  your  glory;  but  it  has  seemed  to  you 
that  victory  was  a  possession  uniquely  reserved  for  your- 
selves, that  military  glory  was  a  monopoly  of  yours.  You 
could  not  support  by  the  side  of  you  a  nation  as  strong 
as  you  are;  you  have  never  been  able  to  pardon  us  for 
Sadowa,  where  neither  your  interests  nor  your  glory  were 
at  stake.  And  you  never  would  pardon  us  the  disaster  of 
Sedan !  Never !  If  we  were  to  make  peace  now — in  five 
years — in  ten  years — as  soon  as  you  could,  you  would  begin 
the  war  over  again.  This  is  all  the  recognition  we  could 
expect  from  the  French  people!  But  we,  we  Prussians, 
just  the  opposite  of  you,  are  an  honest  and  peaceable  peo- 
ple; we  are  never  disturbed  by  the  desire  of  making  con- 
quests ;  and  would  like  nothing  better  than  to  live  in  peace, 

1G 


222         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

if  you  were  not  constantly  exciting  us  by  your  quarrelsome 
and  domineering  disposition." 

It  was  not  difficult  to  see,  from  these  words  of  the 
German  diplomatist,  that,  notwithstanding  his  remarks,  he 
might  have  been  willing  to  treat  with  the  Emperor,  and 
that  only  the  fear  of  a  change  of  Government  decided  him 
to  insist  upon  those  severe  terms  which  would  guarantee 
peace  of  themselves,  even  in  case  of  such  a  change. 

Had  General  de  Wimpfen,  therefore,  tried  to  remove 
this  fear  and  to  defend  the  loyalty  of  the  nation,  or  had 
Count  Bismarck  been  convinced  of  the  loyalty  of  the  Gen- 
eral himself,  then  the  Count  might  have  been  induced  to 
qualify  his  statements  and  to  moderate  his  demands.  But 
the  French  General  made  no  adequate  reply ;  and  when  the 
German  statesman,  who  evidently  had  desired  to  sound 
the  opinion  of  General  de  Wimpfen,  saw  that  the  French 
plenipotentiary  did  not  think  for  a  moment  of  protesting 
against  the  idea  of  a  possible  insurrection  in  Paris  and 
of  an  eventual  dethronement  of  the  Emperor,  he  continued 
his  attacks  upon  the  unreliable  character  of  the  French 
people. 

"  France  has  not  changed.  It  is  she  that  has  desired 
war.  .  .  .  We  know  very  well  that  the  reasonable  and 
healthy  part  of  France  was  not  inclined  towards  this  war; 
nevertheless,  it  also  finally  accepted  the  idea  of  it  willingly. 
We  know,  too,  that  it  was  not  the  army  which  was  most  hos- 
tile to  us.  The  party  in  France  which  forcibly  desired 
war  was  the  one  which  creates  and  destroys  governments. 
In  your  country,  this  is  the  populace ;  it  is  also  the  journal- 
ists [and  he  put  a  stress  upon  this  word]  ;  it  is  these  we 
wish  to  punish ;  we  must  therefore  go  to  Paris.  Who  knows 
what  will  happen?  Perhaps  there  will  be  formed  in  your 
country  one  of  those  governments  that  respect  nothing, 
that  make  laws  for  their  own  pleasure ;  that  will  not  recog- 
nize the  capitulation  you  will  have  signed  for  the  army ;  a 
government  which  perhaps  may  force  the  officers  to  violate 


SEDAN    AND    BISMARCK  223 

the  promises  they  have  given  us;  for,  of  course,  they  will 
say  that  they  have  to  defend  themselves  at  any  price. ' '  * 

These  words  characterize  plainly  enough  the  reasons 
which  made  the  German  authorities  distrust  the  expediency 
of  concessions  they  otherwise  might  have  granted,  and  led 
them  to  insist  upon  a  surrender  on  the  severe  conditions 
which  they  had  at  first  demanded.  General  de  Wimpfen, 
as  will  be  seen,  was  finally  compelled  to  accept  them. 

"  On  the  morning  of  the  2d  of  September,  Napoleon 
III.,  attended  by  the  Prince  de  la  Moskowa,  stepped  into 
a  '  droschke  '  drawn  by  two  horses,  and  drove  to  the  Prus- 
sian lines.  General  Reille  preceded  him,  on  horseback,  in 
order  to  inform  Count  Bismarck  of  his  coming.  The  Em- 
peror, counting  upon  returning  to  the  town,  did  not  take 
leave  of  the  troops  of  the  line,  nor  of  the  battalion  of 
Grenadiers ;  nor  of  the  Cent  Gardes,  who  were  his  habitual 
body-guard.  When  the  drawbridge  of  the  southern  gate 
of  Sedan  was  lowered,  the  Zouaves,  who  were  on  duty  there, 
saluted  him  again  with  the  cry  of  '  Vive  VEmpereur!  ' 
It  was  the  last  adieu  he  was  ever  to  hear. 

"  Having  arrived  within  a  quarter  of  a  league  of  Don- 
chery,  and  not  wishing  to  go  to  the  Prussian  head-quarters, 
the  Emperor  stopped  at  a  little  house  on  the  side  of  the 
road,  and  waited  there  for  the  Chancellor  of  the  Confedera- 
tion of  the  North.  The  Chancellor,  informed  by  General 
Reille,  arrived  soon  after." -j- 

Count  Bismarck,  in  a  report  which  he  sent  to  the  Prus- 
sian King,  has  described  what  then  took  place.  The  fol- 
lowing is  an  almost  literal  translation  of  his  words  from 

a  French  text: 

Donchery,  2d  September. 

"  Having  gone,  last  evening,  by  order  of  your  Majesty, 

to  this  place,  to  take  part  in  the  negotiations  for  the  sur- 

*  Cf.  "  La  Journ6e  de  Sedan,  par  le  General  Ducrot,"  pp.  53  ff. 
t  "OEuvres  Posthumes  de  Napoleon  III.,"  p.  245. 


224         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

render,  these  were  suspended  until  about  one  o'clock  at 
night,  in  compliance  with  a  request  on  the  part  of  General 
de  Wimpfen.  Already  General  von  Moltke  had  declared 
in  the  most  categorical  manner  that  no  other  condition 
would  be  admitted  than  that  of  laying  down  arms;  and 
that  the  bombardment  would  recommence  at  nine  o'clock 
in  the  morning,  if  at  that  hour  the  surrender  had  not  been 
made. 

"  About  six  o'clock  this  morning  the  arrival  of  General 
Reille  was  announced.  He  informed  me  that  the  Emperor 
wished  to  see  me,  and  that  he  was  already  on  his  way 
hither  from  Sedan.  The  General  immediately  returned 
to  announce  to  his  Majesty  that  I  was  following  him;  and 
shortly  after,  about  half-way  between  here  and  Sedan,  near 
Frenois,  I  found  myself  in  the  presence  of  the  Emperor. 
His  Majesty,  with  three  superior  officers,  was  in  an  open 
carriage,  and  by  the  side  of  the  carriage  there  were  three 
other  officers  on  horseback,  among  whom  were  Generals 
Castelnau,  Reille,  Vaubert,  and  Moskowa  (the  last  ap- 
pearing to  be  wounded  in  the  foot),  who  were  personally 
known  to  me. 

"  When  I  came  to  the  carriage  I  dismounted,  and  going 
up  to  his  Majesty  and  putting  my  foot  on  the  step  of 
the  carriage,  I  asked  him  what  were  his  commands.  The 
Emperor  immediately  expressed  a  wish  to  see  your  Majesty, 
being  under  the  impression  that  your  Majesty  was  in  Don- 
chery. After  I  had  replied  that  your  Majesty  was  at 
that  moment  in  the  head-quarters  at  Vendresse,  two  hours' 
distant,  the  Emperor  asked  if  your  Majesty  had  appointed 
a  place  to  which  he  should  proceed,  and,  if  you  had  not, 
what  was  my  opinion  on  the  subject.  I  replied  that  I 
had  come  here  late  at  night,  in  the  dark,  and  that  the 
locality  was  unknown  to  me.  I  offered  for  his  accommoda- 
tion the  house  I  myself  occupied  at  Donchery,  which  I  was 
ready  to  leave  at  once.  The  Emperor  accepted  the  offer, 
and  the  carriage  proceeded  at  a  walk  toward  Donchery. 


SEDAN    AND    BISMARCK  225 

"  About  a  hundred  yards,  however,  from  the  bridge 
over  the  Meuse,  at  the  entrance  to  the  town,  he  stopped 
before  the  house  of  an  artisan,  lonely  in  its  situation,  and 
asked  me  if  he  could  descend  there  from  his  carriage.  I 
requested  Count  Bismarck-Bohlen,  Counselor  of  Legation, 
who  had  in  the  meantime  overtaken  me,  to  examine  the 
house;  and,  although  he  informed  me  that  it  was  small 
and  poorly  furnished,  the  Emperor  got  down  from  the 
carriage  and  requested  me  to  follow  him.  There,  in  a  small 
room  which  contained  but  one  table  and  two  chairs,  I 
had  about  an  hour's  conversation  with  him. 

"  His  Majesty  insisted  particularly  upon  obtaining  fa- 
vorable terms  of  capitulation  for  the  army.  I  declined 
from  the  outset  to  discuss  this  matter  with  him,  because 
the  purely  military  questions  were  to  be  settled  between 
Generals  von  Moltke  and  de  Wimpfen.  On  the  other  hand, 
I  asked  his  Majesty  if  he  was  inclined  to  enter  into  negotia- 
tions for  peace.  The  Emperor  replied  that,  as  a  prisoner, 
he  was  not  now  in  a  position  to  do  so.  And  when  I 
further  asked  who,  in  his  opinion,  actually  represented 
authority  in  France,  his  Majesty  referred  me  to  the  Gov- 
ernment then  existing  in  Paris. 

"  After  this  point  had  been  cleared  up — about  which 
one  could  not  form  a  definite  opinion  from  the  letter  sent 
yesterday  by  the  Emperor  to  your  Majesty — I  recognized, 
and  I  did  not  conceal  the  fact  from  the  Emperor,  that  the 
situation  to-day,  as  yesterday,  presented  no  practical  side 
but  the  military  one ;  and  I  dwelt  upon  the  paramount  ne- 
cessity, in  consequence,  of  having  in  our  hands,  through 
the  surrender  of  Sedan  first  of  all,  a  material  guarantee 
that  would  assure  to  us  the  military  advantages  that  we 
had  now  gained. 

'•  I  had  on  the  previous  evening,  with  General  von 
Moltke,  discussed  and  examined  every  side  of  the  question 
whether  it  would  be  possible,  without  injury  to  the  interests 
of  Germany,  to  concede  to  the  military  honor  of  an  army 


226         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

that  had  fought  bravely,  conditions  more  favorable  than 
those  already  demanded.  After  due  deliberation,  we  were 
both  compelled  to  persist  in  our  negative  opinion.  If, 
therefore,  General  von  Moltke,  who  meantime  had  joined 
us,  returned  to  your  Majesty  to  lay  before  you  the  wishes 
of  the  Emperor,  it  was  not,  as  your  Majesty  knows,  to 
speak  in  their  favor. 

"  The  Emperor  then  went  into  the  open  air,  and  invited 
me  to  sit  beside  him  before  the  door  of  the  house.  His 
Majesty  asked  me  if  it  was  not  possible  to  let  the  French 
army  cross  the  Belgian  frontier,  so  that  it  might  be  there 
disarmed  and  interned.  I  had  discussed  this  contingency 
also  with  General  von  Moltke  on  the  previous  evening,  and, 
for  the  reasons  already  alluded  to,  I  declined  to  consider 
the  suggestion. 

' '  The  political  situation  I,  on  my  part,  did  not  broach, 
nor  did  the  Emperor  either,  only  in  so  far  as  he  deplored 
the  misfortunes  of  the  war.  He  declared  that  he  himself 
had  not  wished  for  war,  but  that  he  had  been  compelled 
to  make  it  by  the  pressure  of  French  public  opinion. 

"  In  the  meantime,  after  inquiries  in  the  town,  and  in 
particular  through  reconnoiterings  by  the  officers  of  the 
general  staff,  it  was  decided  that  the  Chateau  of  Bellevue, 
near  Frenois,  which  was  not  occupied  by  the  wounded,  was 
a  suitable  place  for  the  reception  of  the  Emperor.  I  an- 
nounced it  to  his  Majesty,  saying  that  I  would  propose 
Frenois  to  your  Majesty  as  the  place  of  meeting;  and  I 
asked  the  Emperor  if  he  would  not  prefer  to  go  there 
immediately,  since  a  longer  stay  at  this  small  house  was 
not  becoming  to  him,  and  as  he  perhaps  was  in  want  of 
some  repose. 

"  His  Majesty  readily  accepted  the  suggestion,  and  I 
conducted  him,  preceded  by  a  guard  of  honor  chosen  from 
your  Majesty's  regiment  of  body-guards,  to  the  Chateau 
of  Bellevue  where  the  staff  and  the  carriages  of  the 
Emperor,  coming  directly  from  Sedan  had  already  arrived. 


SEDAN    AND    BISMARCK  227 

I  found  there  also  General  de  Wimpfen;  and,  while  wait- 
ing for  the  return  of  General  von  Moltke,  General  Podbiel- 
ski  resumed  with  him  the  negotiations  concerning  the 
capitulation  that  had  been  broken  off  yesterday,  in  the 
presence  of  Lieutenant-Colonel  von  Verdy  and  the  chief 
of  General  de  Wimpfen 's  staff,  the  last  two  drawing  up 
the  official  report. 

"  I  took  no  part  in  these  negotiations  except,  at  the 
beginning,  by  reciting  the  political  and  legal  aspects  of 
the  situation,  in  conformity  with  what  the  Emperor  him- 
self had  said  to  me.  But  at  this  instant  I  received  by  Ritt- 
meister  Count  von  Noslitz  a  notice  from  General  von 
Moltke  that  your  Majesty  did  not  wish  to  see  the  Emperor 
until  after  the  capitulation  had  been  signed.  This  an- 
nouncement extinguished  on  both  sides  the  hope  that  any 
other  conditions  than  those  already  stipulated  would  be 
agreed  to. 

'  I  went  after  this  to  Chehery  to  see  your  Majesty  in 
order  that  I  might  announce  to  you  the  position  of  affairs ; 
and  on  the  way  I  met  General  von  Moltke,  with  the  text 
of  the  capitulation  as  approved  by  your  Majesty;  which, 
after  we  came  together  at  Frenois,  was,  without  discussion, 
accepted  and  signed. 

"  The  conduct  of  General  de  Wimpfen,  like  that  of 
the  other  French  generals  on  the  preceding  night,  was 
very  dignified.  This  brave  officer,  however,  could  not  re- 
frain from  expressing  to  me  his  profound  distress  at  being 
called  upon,  forty-eight  hours  after  his  arrival  from 
Africa,  and  six  hours  after  his  receiving  the  command,  to 
sign  his  name  to  a  capitulation  so  cruel  to  the  French  arms. 
But  the  want  of  provisions  and  ammunition,  and  the  abso- 
lute impossibility  of  any  further  defense,  had,  he  said, 
laid  upon  him,  as  a  General,  the  duty  of  sinking  his  per- 
sonal feeling,  since  more  bloodshed  could  not  make  any 
change  for  the  better  in  the  situation. 

Our  agreement  to  let  the  officers  depart  with  their 


228         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

arms  on  parole  was  received  with  lively  gratitude,  as  an 
indication  of  the  intention  of  your  Majesty — exceeding 
even  the  demands  of  our  military  and  political  interests — 
to  spare  the  feelings  of  an  army  that  had  fought  so 
bravely.  To  this  sentiment  General  de  Wimpfen  has 
given  emphatic  expression  in  a  letter  in  which  he  has  re- 
turned his  thanks  to  General  von  Moltke  for  the  considerate 
and  courteous  manner  in  which  the  negotiations  on  his 
side  were  conducted." 

After  the  capitulation  had  been  signed,  General  de 
Wimpfen  submitted  the  document  to  the  Emperor,  who 
was  in  a  room  on  the  floor  above.  Soon  after,  the  King 
of  Prussia  and  the  Prince  Royal  came  up  to  the  chateau  on 
horseback,  accompanied  by  a  small  escort. 

The  meeting  between  the  sovereigns  was  most  painful. 
Both  the  King  and  the  Prince  Royal  expressed  for  the  Em- 
peror the  deepest  sympathy,  and  assured  him  of  their  readi- 
ness to  do  everything  in  their  power  to  ameliorate  the  sad- 
ness of  his  situation.  The  King  then  assigned  to  him  the 
Palace  at  Wilhelmshohe  as  a  residence,  and  permitted  him 
to  send  in  cipher  a  despatch  to  the  Empress.  In  this  des- 
patch the  Emperor  announced  briefly  the  disaster  at 
Sedan,  and  advised  the  Empress  to  endeavor  to  negotiate 
a  peace. 

How  profoundly  the  Emperor  was  affected  by  the  disas- 
trous end  of  the  campaign  is  made  painfully  evident  in 
the  two  letters  which  he  wrote  to  the  Empress  immediately 
after  the  capitulation  of  the  army.     They  are  as  follows: 

TRANSLATION 

"  Quartier  Imperial,  2d  September,  1870. 
' '  My  dear  Eugenie  : 

"  It  is  impossible  for  me  to  express  to  you  what  I  have 
suffered  and  what  I  suffer.  "We  have  made  a  march  con- 
trary to  all  principles  and  to  common  sense.     This  could 


NAPOLEON    III. 
From  his  last  photograph  taken  by  W.  ami  D.  Downey  in  1872. 


SEDAN    AND    BISMARCK  229 

not  fail  to  bring  on  a  catastrophe.  In  fact,  it  has  done  so. 
I  should  have  preferred  death  to  the  pain  of  witnessing 
so  disastrous  a  capitulation ;  nevertheless,  it  was,  under  the 
circumstances,  the  sole  means  of  avoiding  the  slaughter 
of  80,000  persons. 

' '  Would  that  all  my  torments  were  centered  here !  But 
I  think  of  you,  of  our  son,  of  our  unhappy  country.  May 
God  protect  it !    What  will  become  of  Paris  ? 

"  Ihave  just  seen  the  King.  He  spoke  to  me  with  tears 
in  his  eyes  of  the  distress  I  must  feel.  He  has  put  at  my 
disposal  one  of  his  chateaux  near  Cassel.  But  what  does 
it  matter  where  I  go !  .  .  .  I  am  in  despair.  Adieu.  I 
kiss  you  tenderly.  Napoleon. 


> » 


TRANSLATION 

"  Bouillon,  September  3,  1870. 
"  My  dear  Eugenie: 

"  After  the  irreparable  misfortunes  that  I  have  wit- 
nessed, I  think  of  the  dangers  you  run,  and  I  am  awaiting 
news  from  Paris  with  intense  anxiety. 

"  The  present  catastrophe  is  what  might  have  been  ex- 
pected. Our  advance  was  the  height  of  imprudence,  and, 
moreover,  very  badly  managed.  But  I  could  never  have 
believed  that  the  catastrophe  would  prove  so  frightful. 
Imagine  an  army  surrounding  a  fortified  town  and  itself 
surrounded  by  far  superior  forces.  At  the  end  of  several 
hours  our  troops  made  an  entrance  into  the  town.  Then 
the  town  was  filled  with  a  compact  crowd,  and  upon  this 
dense  mass  of  human  heads  the  bombs  were  falling  from 
all  sides,  killing  the  people  who  were  in  the  streets,  bursting 
through  roofs  and  setting  houses  on  fire. 

"  In  this  extremity  the  generals  came  to  tell  me  that 
all  resistance  was  impossible.  There  were  neither  regular 
troops,  nor  ammunition,  nor  provisions  remaining.  A 
charge  was  attempted,  but  was  unsuccessful. 


230         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

"  I  remained  four  hours  upon  the  field  of  battle. 
"  The  march  to-day  in  the  midst  of  the  Prussian  troops 
was  veritable  torture.    Adieu.     I  kiss  you  tenderly. 

"  Napoleon." 

The  Emperor  had  yet  two  years  to  live;  but  at  Sedan 
he  was  struck  with  death.  Humiliated  and  overwhelmed 
with  grief  on  that  day,  his  heart  was  broken  by  the  outra- 
geous accusations  that  continued  to  pursue  him  without  res- 
pite. He  harbored  little  bitterness  of  feeling  toward  his 
accusers.  He  even  made  excuses  for  some  of  those  who, 
forgetting  his  entire  past,  believed  the  charges  preferred 
against  him;  but  they  caused  him  no  less  suffering.  His 
responsibility  he  accepted,  but  it  was- never  out  of  his  mind. 
Often  a  broken  phrase  escaping  his  lips,  as  if  in  spite  of 
himself,  betrayed  to  those  about  him  the  persistence  of  that 
fixed  idea  which  haunted  him  to  the  tomb.  "  Conneau," 
said  he,  in  a  weak  and  barely  intelligible  voice,  the  instant 
before  he  expired,  "  Conneau,  were  you  at  Sedan?  ' 
These  words,  the  last  that  he  uttered,  plainly  revealed 
the  ever-open  wound. 


CHAPTER   VIII 

THE   FALL   OF    THE   SECOND   EMPIRE 

Effects  in  Paris  of  the  news  of  the  first  reverses — "  Nous  sommcs  trahis  " 
-The  resignation  of  the  Ministry — General  de  Palikao — A  new  Min- 
istry is  formed — General  Trochu  is  appointed  Military  Governor — 
An  unsuccessful  mission — The  announcement  of  the  disaster  of  Se- 
dan— A  Cabinet  Council  is  convoked — General  Trochu  is  requested 
to  come  to  the  Palace — The  night  of  September  3d  at  the  Tuileries 
— The  morning  of  September  4th — The  council  of  Ministers — A 
deputation  is  sent  to  the  Empress — Her  Majesty  is  advised  to  resign 
— Her  reply — The  proposition  of  M.  Thiers — The  Palais-Bourbon  is 
invaded  by  the  mob — The  conduct  of  General  Trochu — The  Em- 
peror pronounces  it  "flagrant  treason" — The  simple  facts — A  pan- 
demonium— The  last  session  of  the  Senate — "I  yield  to  force." 

^^^E  have  now  to  return  to  the  French  capital, 
where  we  saw  the  population  so  hopeful  and 
exultant  at  the  outbreak  of  the  war. 

How  changed  is  everything  here !  The  first 
bad  news  had  effected  a  revulsion  in  the  popular  feeling; 
and  the  general  intoxication  was  followed  by  a  sudden  and 
complete  reaction,  as  soon  as  the  defeats  of  the  French 
arms  at  Wissembourg,  Froeschwiller,  and  Forbach  became 
known. 

If  the  misfortunes  of  their  country  had  merely  sobered 
the  minds  of  the  people,  and  produced  among  them  a  clear 
understanding  of  the  actual  state  of  things,  and  the 
consciousness  of  having  been  themselves  the  cause  of 
the  disasters,  the  result  might  have  been  highly  beneficial, 
and  all  the  mistakes  might  perhaps  still  have  been  repaired. 
As  it  was,  the  first  reverses  only  prepared  the  way  for 

231 


232         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

new  ones ;  for  in  the  panic  that  followed,  the  people,  instead 
of  strengthening  the  hands  of  the  Government,  madly 
strove  in  every  way  to  weaken  its  hold  on  the  country  and 
to  paralyze  its  efforts  to  meet  the  requirements  of  the 
situation. 

On  the  8th  of  August,  the  Empress  issued  a  proclama- 
tion. 

"  Frenchmen,"  said  she,  "  the  beginning  of  the  war  is 
unfavorable  to  us;  we  have  met  with  a  check.  Be  firm  in 
the  presence  of  this  reverse,  and  let  us  make  haste  to  repair 
it.  Let  there  be  among  us  but  one  party — that  of  France; 
but  one  standard — that  of  the  national  honor.  I  am  here 
in  the  midst  of  you;  and,  faithful  to  my  mission  and  to 
my  duty,  you  will  see  me  the  first  in  the  place  of  danger 
to  defend  the  flag  of  France." 

But  she  appealed  in  vain  to  the  patriotism  and  the 
chivalry  of  the  nation. 

Before  the  beginning  of  the  war  the  opposition  of  the 
people  to  the  will  of  the  sovereign  had  prevented  him 
from  making  the  necessary  preparations;  and  as  a  conse- 
quence the  army  had  been  defeated ;  but  those  who  had  vio- 
lently opposed  every  proposal  to  increase  the  efficiency  of 
the  army,  far  from  blaming  themselves,  now  accused  the 
Government  of  negligence,  and  held  it  responsible  for  the 
loss  of  the  first  battles. 

To  abolish  the  existing  Ministry,  therefore,  became  the 
chief  desire  of  the  demoralized  and  discontented  people. 
There  was  a  great  discordance  of  opinion,  however,  with 
regard  to  the  persons  by  whom  it  should  be  replaced. 
All  were  clamoring  that  something  should  be  done,  but 
no  one  seemed  to  know  what  ought  to  be  done.  Some  be- 
lieved it  would  be  sufficient,  in  order  to  obtain  the  immedi- 
ate triumph  of  the  French  arms,  simply  to  write  the  word 
cc  Itepublic  '  upon  the  flag;  others  proclaimed  that  the 
presence  of  the  Count  de  Chambord  upon  the  throne  would 
have  that  effect — by  securing  for  France  alliances;  but  on 


FALL    OF    THE    SECOND    EMPIRE        233 

one  point  all  the  enemies  of  the  Empire  agreed,  viz.,  that 
the  Deputies  should  be  called  together,  and  that  the  01- 
livier  Cabinet  should  be  overthrown. 

The  people,  dazed  or  stung  to  madness  by  defeat,  forgot 
their  own  interests  and  the  welfare  of  their  country ;  while 
an  unscrupulous  Press,  instead  of  trying  to  aid  the  Govern- 
ment in  its  difficult  task,  by  urging  the  population  to 
keep  calm,  and  by  informing  them  that  the  safety  of  the 
State,  that  even  the  integrity  of  France,  depended  on  the 
union  of  its  citizens  in  the  defense  of  their  fatherland, 
took  special  pains  to  incite  their  readers  to  a  revolution, 
by  appealing  to  their  political  animosities  and  prejudices, 
and,  finally,  by  telling  them  that  they  had  been  betrayed. 

Among  a  people  essentially  democratic,  the  national 
vanity  is  a  force  that  is  apt  to  dominate  the  public  intelli- 
gence and  to  silence  conscience.  The  people  can  do  no 
wrong;  they  are  always  wise  and  blameless.  If  they  meet 
with  disasters  and  defeat,  it  is  never  through  any  fault  of 
theirs,  but  is  attributed  to  the  ignorance  and  folly,  or 
treachery  even,  of  their  official  representatives. 

To  the  foreigner  knowing  something  of  the  organization 
of  the  French  army  sent  into  the  field  in  1870,  and  of 
the  causes  which  had  determined  that  organization,  noth- 
ing could  sound  more  pitiful  or  contemptible  than  the  cries 
of  '  nous  sommes  trahis  '  with  which  wounded  vanity 
filled  the  air  of  the  capital,  while  courage  and  self-abnega- 
tion, and  all  that  was  noblest  in  France,  were  yielding 
up  their  lives  in  a  desperate  struggle  with  overwhelming 
numbers  to  defend  the  honor  of  the  country  and  protect 
and  preserve  the  patrimony  of  the  people. 

Betrayed!  Yes.  The  French  were  betrayed;  but  not 
by  Napoleon  III.,  nor  by  the  generals,  whose  misfortune 
it  was  to  lead  the  armies  of  France  to  defeat ;  but  by  the 
men  who  persistently  refused  to  give  to  the  Emperor  the 
military  organization  which  he  had  called  for,  and  who, 
with  an  ignorant  incomprehension  of  the  political  aims  of 


234         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

the  Prussian  Government,  and  stupidly  refusing  to  recog- 
nize the  military  power  of  Germany  after  it  had  been 
clearly  revealed  to  the  world,  were  incessantly  clamoring 
for  war  and  a  compensation  for  Sadowa,  and  boasting  of 
the  invincibility  of  the  French  army. 

If  the  French  people  were  betrayed  in  1870,  it  was  by 
political  demagogues  in  the  Chamber  of  Deputies  or  speak- 
ing through  the  press,  who  on  the  one  hand  magnified  the 
burden  of  the  war  budget,  talked  of  vast  and  needless  ex- 
penditures, and  denounced  the  army  as  a  menace  to  liberty ; 
while  on  the  other  hand  they  flattered  the  people  with 
phrases  until  they  actually  believed  they  were  unconquer- 
able. 

The  French  people  were  rudely  awakened  from  this  il- 
lusive dream  by  the  German  guns  at  Woerth  and  Forbach. 
But  it  was  their  own  fault  if  they  began  to  pay  the  penalty 
then,  which  they  never  since  have  ceased  to  pay,  in  armies 
surrendered,  provinces  lost,  the  horrors  of  the  Commune, 
immense  indemnities,  the  public  debt  doubled,  taxes 
enormously  increased,  a  remorseless  conscription  law  that 
forces  every  able-bodied  Frenchman  to  serve  in  the  army 
for  three  years,  and,  most  humiliating  of  all — for  as  Renan 
has  said,  "  La  France  souffre  tout  except  e  d'etre  mediocre  " 
— in  being  compelled  to  witness  and  to  acknowledge  the  fall 
of  their  country  from  its  ancient  position  of  leadership 
among  the  great  Powers  of  Europe.  And  all  this  through 
the  failure  to  make,  for  the  contingency  of  a  war  that  was 
imminent,  such  provision  as  common  sense  should  have  rec- 
ognized as  necessary  for  the  national  security. 

What  a  warning  of  the  danger  of  being  caught  unpre- 
pared for  war!  The  Franco-German  War  of  1870  exhib- 
ited once  more  to  the  world  the  irreparable  consequences  of 
a  nation  losing  its  instinctive  consciousness  of  its  military 
needs — of  permitting  itself  to  be  enticed  away  from  all 
thought  or  concern  for  the  public  welfare  by  the  demands 
of  individual   and  private  interest,   the  accumulation  of 


FALL    OF    THE    SECOND    EMPIRE        285 

wealth,  the  love  of  luxury,  and  the  display  of  personal 
possessions. 

For  it  must  be  admitted  that  not  the  least  among  the 
indirect  causes  of  the  disasters  that  overwhelmed  the 
French  armies,  as  well  as  of  the  final  collapse  of  the  Im- 
perial regime,  was  the  extraordinary  commercial  prosperity 
of  the  country  from  1852  to  1870.  This  was  the  period  of 
the  greatest  industrial  activity  that  France  had  ever  before 
known.  Vast  fortunes  were  rapidly  made  and  as  rapidly 
dissipated,  and  Frenchmen  amused  themselves.  It  is  in 
such  times,  when  "  tout  bourgeois  veut  bdtir  comme  les 
grands  seigneurs,"  that  the  solidarity  of  society  is  lost  sight 
of,  and  the  State  is  exposed  to  the  dangers  that  follow  in 
the  train  of  a  sordid  and  incoherent  individualism. 

Since  the  Emperor,  before  leaving  for  the  field,  had 
unfortunately  promised  that  the  National  Assembly  should 
be  convoked  in  case  the  nation  desired  it,  the  Empress  Re- 
gent had  to  give  way  to  the  general  clamor,  and  the  session 
of  the  Legislative  Body  was  accordingly  fixed  for  the  9th 
of  August. 

At  the  very  first  meeting  of  the  Deputies,  the  Ministers 
recognized  that  they  would  have  to  resign.  Her  Majesty 
could  not  help  accepting  their  resignation;  and  she  conse- 
quently  was  compelled  to  choose  a  new  Cabinet.  The  wishes 
of  the  Radicals  were  thus  fulfilled,  and  a  ministerial  crisis 
was  added  to  the  perils  of  the  situation. 

The  Empress,  after  a  short  deliberation  with  her  Coun- 
selors, sent  a  message  to  Count  de  Palikao,  summoning  him 
to  come  without  delay  to  the  capital. 

The  Count  arrived  in  Paris  on  the  morning  of  the  10th, 
and  immediately  hastened  to  the  palace.  Notwithstanding 
the  fact  that  he  had  been  somewhat  neglected  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  war,  and  that  younger  officers  had  obtained  im- 
portant positions  and  commands  in  the  army  in  the  field, 
while  he  was  obliged  to  remain  at  Lyons,  he  was  anxious 


236         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

to  do  all  in  his  power  to  aid  the  Regent  and  to  defend 
his  country. 

When  his  arrival  was  announced,  the  Empress,  who  at 
the  time  was  with  her  ministers,  rose,  and,  stepping  forward 
to  meet  him,  said:  "  General,  I  have  sent  for  you  because 
I  have  a  great  act  of  devotion  to  ask  of  you."  Count  de 
Palikao  answered:  "  I  am  ready  to  show  all  my  devotion 
to  the  Empress  and  to  my  country.  Will  your  Majesty 
please  indicate  what  you  desire  of  me?  " 

' '  I  ask  of  you  to  be  our  Minister  of  War, ' '  the  Empress 
replied. 

That  was  not  exactly  an  enviable  position.  Neverthe- 
less, after  having  hesitated  for  some  moments,  and  after 
having  stated  that  he  had  little  experience  in  political 
affairs,  that  he  was  a  soldier,  and  not  accustomed  to  speak 
in  public,  Count  de  Palikao  accepted.  His  patriotism  was, 
however,  to  undergo  a  still  more  serious  test. 

"  General,"  said  the  Empress,  "since  you  have  sub- 
mitted, you  must  sacrifice  yourself  entirely.  You  must 
form  a  new  Ministry. ' '  * 

Such  a  mission  was  exceedingly  difficult  for  a  man  who 
had  spent  nearly  all  his  life  in  camp,  and  the  responsibil- 
ities connected  with  it  might  have  deterred  many  men.  As, 
however,  the  Empress  and  her  Counselors  insisted,  and 
maintained  that  there  was  no  other  man  who  could  form 
a  Cabinet  that  would  have  any  chance  of  permanency,  he 
finally  agreed  also  to  this  proposition. 

Count  de  Palikao  was  one  of  those  old  soldiers  who 
never  discuss  a  point  when  there  is  a  duty  in  question, 
but  who  go  right  to  work  without  phrases.  After  some 
hours  of  labor,  thanks  to  his  patriotism,  he  was  able  to 
present  to  her  Majesty  and  the  Chamber  the  list  of  persons 
whom  he  proposed  for  the  new  Cabinet.    It  was  constituted 

*  Cf.     "  Enquete  Parlementaire  sur  les  Actes  du  Gouvernement  de 
la  Defense  Nationale,"  tome  i,  p.  164  ff. 


FALL    OF    THE    SECOND    EMPIRE        237 

as  follows:  Count  de  Palikao  himself  had  the  portfolio  of 
War;  Henri  Chevreau  became  Minister  of  the  Interior; 
Magne  was  named  Minister  of  Finance ;  Granperret,  Minis- 
ter of  Justice;  Clement  Duvernois,  Minister  of  Commerce; 
Admiral  Rigault  de  Genouilly  kept  his  place  as  Minister 
of  the  Navy ;  Baron  Jerome  David  was  appointed  Minister 
of  Public  Works ;  the  Prince  de  la  Tour  d  'Auvergne  became 
Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs;  Brame,  Minister  of  Public 
Instruction;  and  Busson-Billault  was  appointed  President 
of  the  State  Council. 

It  now  devolved  upon  this  new  Ministry  to  satisfy  the 
popular  feeling  with  regard  to  the  command  of  the  army. 
How  this  was  accomplished  we  have  seen.  The  Cabinet 
granted  the  wish  of  the  Opposition,  and  the  result  was 
that  General  Lebceuf  resigned,  and  the  Emperor  laid  down 
his  military  command. 

This  change  in  the  general  administration  proved  dis- 
astrous; for,  however  unfit  General  LebcEuf  may  have 
been,  it  was  he  who  had  made  all  the  preparations  for  the 
campaign;  and  to  depose  him,  and  entrust  his  position  to 
any  one  else,  however  capable,  necessarily  brought  about 
confusion;  since  it  was  impossible  for  his  successor  to 
efficiently  discharge  the  duties  of  his  most  important  office 
without  becoming  acquainted  not  only  with  the  general 
state  of  things,  but  with  a  great  multitude  of  essential 
details  as  well.  And  for  such  studies  there  was  no  time, 
in  the  midst  of  the  serious  events  which  were  then  follow- 
ing each  other  in  quick  succession. 

Other  circumstances,  moreover,  aggravated  the  situa- 
tion. General  Trochu,  who,  as  already  mentioned,  had  been 
appointed  by  the  Emperor  Military  Governor  of  Paris, 
entered  the  city  at  the  head  of  an  enormous  army  of  Gardes 
Mobiles,  and  soon  assumed  there  a  position  which  was 
altogether  exceptional. 

When  he  presented  himself  before  the  Empress  Regent, 
in  order  to  announce  to  her  his  nomination,  her  Majesty 
17 


238         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

was  at  first  very  much  startled.  She  accepted,  however, 
the  appointment,  and  finally  became  reconciled  to  it, 
because  a  number  of  persons  about  her  seemed  to  have 
confidence  in  the  new  Governor. 

The  events  which  followed  proved  that  in  selecting  the 
Governor  a  great  mistake  had  been  made ;  and  to  the  Em- 
peror, as  well  as  to  the  Regent,  who  had  been  induced  to 
believe  in  the  loyalty  of  the  man,  it  was  soon  to  be  revealed 
with  startling  effect  that  the  sympathies  of  General  Trochu 
were  not  what  they  should  have  been,  but  that  at  heart  he 
was  with  the  enemies  of  the  Imperial  dynasty. 

During  the  evening  of  the  2d  of  September  there  were 
rumors  of  a  disaster  at  Sedan,  and  M.  Jerome  David,  a 
member  of  the  Cabinet,  received  a  private  despatch  an- 
nouncing that  the  Emperor  had  been  taken  prisoner.  But 
in  the  absence  of  official  news,  Paris  at  the  time  was  full 
of  the  wildest  rumors.  Nevertheless,  the  Empress  was 
greatly  moved  by  these  reports,  and  they  produced  upon 
the  public  in  general  a  state  of  excitement  or  conster- 
nation that  was  paralyzing  and  fatal  to  any  well-con- 
ceived intelligent  effort  to  assist  the  sovereign  to  meet  the 
impending  crisis.  One  of  the  first  thoughts  that  occurred 
to  some  of  the  friends  of  her  Majesty  was,  that  M.  Thiers 
might  perhaps  be  induced  to  come  to  her  assistance,  or,  at 
least,  to  consent  to  aid  her  with  his  counsel.  And,  curiously 
enough,  a  precedent  for  this  idea  was  found  in  the  course 
taken  by  Marie  Antoinette,  who,  in  circumstances  in  some 
respects  similar,  had  appealed  to  Mirabeau  and  had  ob- 
tained from  him  the  reply,  "  Madame,  la  monarchic  est 
sauvee."  And  then,  again,  had  not  M.  Thiers  sent  word 
to  the  Emperor,  only  a  few  weeks  before,  that  the  time 
might  come  when  he  could  be  of  service  to  the  Imperial 
Government?  And  so  it  was  that  M.  Prosper  Merimee, 
a  friend  of  the  Empress  from  her  childhood,  was  requested 
to  see  M.  Thiers  and  ascertain  if  he  would  consent  to  give 
to  her  Majesty  the  benefit  of  his  counsel.    And,  M.  Merimee 


FALL    OF    THE    SECOND    EMPIRE        239 

failing  to  obtain  a  satisfactory  reply,  immediately  after- 
ward, on  the  same  day,  M.  Ayguesvives  was  entrusted  with 
the  same  mission,  but  equally  without  success;  for  M. 
Thiers,  whatever  may  have  been  the  quality  of  his  patriot- 
ism, was  altogether  too  astute  to  embark  his  political  for- 
tunes in  a  sinking  ship. 

The  Empress  herself  had  no  knowledge  of  this  proceed- 
ing. Nor  is  the  incident  of  any  special  consequence,  ex- 
cept as  it  throws  a  vivid  light  upon  the  disarray  and  de- 
moralization existing  at  the  time  about  the  Court  and  in 
official  circles. 

It  was  about  half  past  four  o'clock  on  the  3d  of  Sep- 
tember, when  M.  de  Vougy,  the  Director  of  the  Telegraphic 
Service,  brought  to  the  Tuileries  the  despatch  in  which  the 
Emperor  announced  to  his  consort  the  disaster  of  Sedan. 
M.  Chevreau,  when  he  had  read  the  communication,  pale 
with  terror  and  struck  dumb  by  the  calamity,  hastened 
to  the  Empress  and  handed  to  her  the  ominous  paper  that 
contained  only  two  lines,  but  two  lines  of  the  most  terrible 
significance : 

"  L'armee  est  defaite  et  captive;  n' ay  ant  pu  me  faire 
tuer  au  milieu  de  mes  soldats,  j'ai  du  me  constituer  prison- 
nier  pour  sauver  l'armee. — Napoleon." 

(The  army  has  been  defeated  and  captured.  Having 
been  unable  to  get  killed  in  the  midst  of  my  soldiers,  I 
have  been  obliged  to  give  myself  up  as  a  prisoner  in  order 
to  save  the  army.) 

With  a  cry  of  anguish,  the  Empress,  who  had  risen 
to  meet  her  Minister,  sank  back  into  her  seat.  The  weak- 
ness of  the  woman  succumbed  to  this  fearful  blow  of  fate, 
and  the  hot  tears  came  rushing  into  her  eyes.  For  a  few 
painful  moments  she  remained  silent ;  her  distress  was  too 
acute  for  speech  or  thought.  She  then  arose  and  retired 
to  her  private  cabinet.  But  after  a  little  while  she  revived, 
and  becoming  conscious  of  her  responsibilities  as  Regent, 


240         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

and  stimulated  by  the  hope  that  even  yet  all  was  not  lost, 
began  to  think  what  it  was  her  duty  to  do,  in  view  of  the 
new  situation  that  had  been  created,  and  what  measures 
should  be  taken  to  limit,  or  prevent,  if  possible,  some  of  its 
most  appalling  and  disastrous  consequences.  A  Cabinet 
Council  was  called  by  her,  and  half  an  hour  later  the  Minis- 
ters met  together  for  the  purpose  of  considering  what 
should  be  done  to  check  the  advance  of  the  Prussians  and 
safeguard  the  interests  of  France.  The  sitting  lasted  until 
nearly  nine  o'clock. 

0 

A  new  coup-d'Etat  might  have  saved  the  dynasty;  but 
the  Regent,  as  well  as  the  majority  of  her  Ministers,  was 
decidedly  against  such  a  measure.  When  the  question 
arose  whether  the  Tuileries  and  other  public  buildings 
should  be  defended  by  an  armed  force,  in  case  of  necessity, 
the  Regent,  while  she  consented  that  the  Chamber  of  Depu- 
ties should  be  protected  by  troops,  positively  refused  to 
have  the  Tuileries  protected  except  by  the  usual  guard. 
She  expressly  insisted  that  orders  should  be  given  to  the 
soldiers  not  to  fire  upon  the  people,  whatever  might  happen, 
and  she  declared  it  to  be  her  wish  that  not  a  drop  of  French 
blood  should  be  shed  for  the  preservation  of  her  life.* 

The  only  means  which  now  remained  for  saving  the 
Government  was  to  try  to  obtain  the  spontaneous  assistance 
of  all  its  forces ;  and  it  was  recognized  that  General  Trochu 
alone,  on  account  of  his  position  and  his  popularity,  would 
be  able  to  exercise  the  desired  influence  upon  the  troops 
in  Paris.  Should  he  show  himself  resolute  to  defend  the 
Government,  then  it  was  certain  he  would  carry  along  with 
him  the  National  Guards  and  defeat  the  hopes  of  the 
Republican  agitators.  Her  Majesty  therefore  sought  to 
obtain  the  assistance  of  the  Governor  of  Paris,  whose  spe- 
cial mission  it  was  to  defend  the  Government  and  provide 
for  the  security  of  the  capital,  and  upon  whose  loyalty  and 

*  "  Enquete  Parlementaire,"  tome  i,  p.  154. 


FALL    OF    THE    SECOND    EMPIRE        241 

support  she  confidently  counted.  For  this  purpose  she 
requested  Admiral  Jurien  de  la  Graviere  to  inform  General 
Trochu  that  she  wished  very  much  to  see  him.  General 
Trochu  sent  back  word  that  he  had  just  returned  from 
a  visit  to  the  forts,  that  he  was  very  tired,  and  had  not 
yet  dined.  The  Empress  expressed  her  surprise  on  being 
told  the  reason  given  by  General  Trochu  for  not  immedi- 
ately complying  with  her  request.  "  He  has  not  had  his 
dinner!  "  she  exclaimed;  "  neither  have  I  had  mine.  Is 
it  becoming,  at  an  hour  like  this,  to  think  first  of  our  din- 
ners? '  And  then  she  sent  M.  Chevreau,  the  Minister  of 
the  Interior,  to  him,  to  announce  the  contents  of  the  tele- 
gram which  she  had  received  from  the  Emperor,  and  to 
request  him  to  come  at  once  to  the  palace,  in  order  to  de- 
liberate with  her  in  regard  to  the  necessary  preparations 
for  an  emergency. 

M.  Chevreau  hastened  to  the  Louvre  and  delivered  this 
message  to  General  Trochu.  He  described  to  him  the 
anguish  and  despair  of  the  Regent.  "  She  has  received 
the  most  cruel  blow,"  he  said,  "  as  a  sovereign,  as  a  wife, 
and  as  a  mother;  there  is  no  portion  of  her  heart  that  does 
not  bleed.  She  needs  to  have  near  her  devotion  and  friend- 
ship.    Go  to  her;  your  presence  will  do  her  good." 

The  General  answered  that  he  had  just  dismounted 
from  his  horse ;  that  he  was  tired ;  that  he  had  not  yet 
dined,  but  that  he  would  come  in  the  evening,  after  his 
dinner,  to  see  her  Majesty.* 

M.  Chevreau  left  General  Trochu  very  much  astonished 
at  his  trivial  excuses,  but  in  the  persuasion  that  the  Gov- 
ernor would,  nevertheless,  go  to  the  Tuileries.  In  fact,  how 
could  any  one  believ  that  a  soldier  would  refuse  to  meet 
his  sovereign,  who  had  appealed  to  him  for  counsel,  were 
it  only  as  a  mark  of  sympathy  for  a  woman  in  misfortune, 
especially  when  he  had  taken  upon  himself  the  duty  of 


*  "  L'Empire  et  la  Defense  de  Paris,"  par  le  G6ne>al  Trochu,  p.  82. 


242         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

aiding  and  defending  her?  General  Trochu,  however,  did 
not  go  to  the  palace  that  evening.  Again  and  again  he 
was  sent  for,  but  could  not  be  found. 

Until  late  in  the  evening  of  Saturday,  the  3d,  the  en- 
tourage of  the  Empress  had  not  lost  their  confidence  in  the 
ability  of  the  Imperial  Government  to  maintain  itself.  It 
was  reported  that,  the  Radicals  having  approached  General 
Trochu,  he  had  replied:  "  Don't  count  on  me.  I  shall 
remain  faithful  to  the  duty  I  have  accepted  ' ' ;  and  that, 
on  the  other  hand,  General  de  Palikao  had  said  openly  that 
he  would  not  hesitate  a  moment  to  send  the  Governor  of 
Paris  to  Vincennes,  if  he  suspected  him  to  be  a  traitor.  But 
with  the  declining  day  the  occupants  of  the  Tuileries  began 
to  grow  anxious.  The  reports  received  became  more  and 
more  alarming.  All  night  long  the  Empress  was  occupied 
in  opening  despatches  that  came  in  from  every  side,  some 
communicating  the  poignant  details  of  the  recent  battles; 
others  reporting  the  openly  hostile  manifestations  that 
were  taking  place  in  the  streets  of  Paris ;  that  a  plot,  even, 
had  been  laid  to  seize  her  as  a  hostage ;  but  not  one  word 
of  good  news,  not  one  word  of  encouragement,  came  from 
without  to  brighten  the  sinister  story  of  misfortune  that 
was  breaking  her  heart,  or  to  lighten  the  burden  of  official 
duties  that  was  overwhelming  her.  That  night  there  was 
a  sitting  of  the  Chamber  of  Deputies.  But  not  a  Minister, 
not  a  person,  came  to  inform  her  Majesty  what  resolutions 
had  been  taken,  or  to  report  to  her  the  proceedings  at  this 
important  meeting.  Bravely  she  strove  to  support,  without 
faltering,  the  cruel  blows  that  were  falling  upon  her,  and 
with  admirable  fortitude  devoted  every  energy  of  her 
being  to  the  defense  of  the  nation.  After  a  night  passed 
without  a  moment's  rest,  at  seven  o'clock  the  Empress 
retired  to  the  little  chapel  attached  to  her  apartment,  there 
to  fall  upon  her  knees  and  invoke  the  Divine  compassion 
and  assistance.  Half  an  hour  later,  as  a  Sister  of  Charity, 
she  visited  the  hospital  that  had  been  established  at  the 


FALL    OF    THE    SECOND    EMPIRE        243 

Tuileries,  in  the  great  Salle  des  Spectacles,  near  the  Pavil- 
ion de  Marsan,  and  which  was  filled  with  the  wounded 
who  had  been  brought  back  to  Paris. 

Amid  all  these  occupations  and  distractions,  she  found 
time  to  send  a  despatch  to  her  mother,  the  Countess  de 
Montijo,  who  was  in  Madrid,  announcing  the  disaster  at 
Sedan,  and  closing  with  words  that  revealed  a  spirit  un- 
daunted, and  her  indomitable  resolve  to  do  her  duty,  let 
come  what  might: 

"  Keep  up  your  courage,  dear  mother.  If  France 
wishes  to  defend  herself,  she  is  able  to.  I  shall  do  my 
duty.     Your  unhappy  daughter,  Eugenie." 

At  half  past  eight  o'clock  the  Council  was  to  meet. 
Just  before  this  meeting  it  was  suggested  to  the  Empress, 
by  one  of  her  friends,  that  General  Trochu  could  not  be 
trusted.  But  her  Majesty  would  not  listen  to  what  was 
said;  had  not  the  Governor  given  his  orders  that  cav- 
alry be  posted  at  the  Palais-Bourbon,  and  the  Tuileries 
guarded?  and  had  not  General  Trochu  also  sent  word  that 
he  would  be  present  at  the  meeting  of  the  Council  ? 

When  the  hour  fixed  for  the  meeting  had  already 
passed,  and  General  Trochu  had  not  yet  arrived,  M.  Chev- 
reau  asked  the  Empress  to  let  the  Ministers  wait  for  the 
Governor,  contrary  to  all  usage,  so  necessary  was  his  pres- 
ence at  this  Council.  At  last  the  General  made  his  ap- 
pearance, and  saluted  the  Empress  with  the  vague  bom- 
bastic phrase:  "  Madame,  voila  I'heure  des  grands  perils! 
Nous  ferons  tout  ce  que  nous  devons."  (Madame,  behold 
the  hour  of  great  perils  has  come !  We  shall  do  everything 
that  we  ought  to  do.)  * 

After  this  the  General  had  some  private  conversation 
with   her  Majesty,   which,   whatever   may   have   been  his 

*  "  L'Empire  et  la  Defense  de  Paris,"  p.  428. 


244         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

protestations  of  devotion  and  his  promises  to  protect  her 
person,  could  scarcely  have  reassured  the  Empress  with 
respect  to  his  purpose  to  use  the  influence  and  means  at 
his  disposition  to  uphold  and  maintain  the  Government; 
for  when  she  reentered  the  Council-room,  and  when  M. 
Chevreau,  anxious  to  know  how  matters  stood,  approached 
her  with  the  words,  "  Eh  bien,  madamef  "  her  Majesty 
made  no  reply  except  by  an  appealing  look  and  gesture, 
which  indicated  that  there  was  little  hope.* 

The  Council  of  Ministers  then  examined  the  situation 
on  all  sides,  and  deliberated  upon  the  means  which  might 
possibly  prevent  the  danger  that  seemed  to  be  rapidly 
approaching.  For,  the  night  before,  Jules  Favre  had  al- 
ready proposed  to  the  Deputies  that  Napoleon  III.  be 
deposed,  and  his  dynasty  overthrown ;  while,  judging  by 
the  reports  which  arrived  from  the  Prefecture  of  Police, 
it  could  not  be  doubted  that  an  insurrection  might  take 
place  that  very  day. 

Some  of  the  persons  present  gave  expression  to  the 
opinion  that  it  would  perhaps  be  wise  to  transfer  the  seat 
of  the  Government  from  Paris  to  one  of  the  cities  in  the 
provinces.  But  it  was  remarked  that  were  this  done  the 
capital  would  be  at  the  mercy  of  the  mob ;  that  the  Parisians 
would  undoubtedly  set  up  a  new  Government,  and  that, 
through  interior  disorder  and  dissension  which  must  neces- 
sarily follow,  the  city  would  be  delivered  into  the  hands 
of  the  enemy.  In  consequence  of  considerations  of  this 
nature,  the  idea  of  changing  the  seat  of  Government  was 
rejected  by  most  of  the  members  of  the  Cabinet  Council, 
and  also  by  her  Majesty  herself,  who  concluded  her  remarks 
on  the  subject  with  the  words:  "  II  faut  tomber  sans  en- 
combrer  la  resistance.'"  f  (Let  me  fall  without  being  an 
encumbrance  to  the  defense). 

It  was  finally  agreed  that  a  proclamation  should  be  pub- 

*  "  Enquete  Parlementaire,"  tome  i,  p.  267. 
t  Ibid.,  op.  cit.,  tome  i,  p.  156. 


FALL    OF    THE    SECOND    EMPIRE        245 

lished  informing  the  people  of  the  military  situation  and 
appealing  to  their  patriotism,  and  that  the  Government 
should  be  strengthened  by  the  participation  of  the  two 
Chambers.  But  opinions  differed  as  to  the  manner  in  which 
this  cooperation  ought  to  be  obtained. 

One  of  the  Deputies,  M.  Buffet,  had  advised  the  Min- 
isters to  persuade  the  Regent  to  place  all  her  powers  in 
the  hands  of  the  Legislative  Assembly,  in  order  to  put  this 
body  in  a  position  to  elect  a  new  Executive  power ;  but  this 
advice  was  rejected  because  it  was  alleged  that,  in  case 
the  Regency  should  declare  itself  void  of  power,  the  Legis- 
lative Assembly  would  also,  at  the  same  time,  lose  its 
legal  authority. 

The  Ministers  finally  proposed  to  present  to  the  Assem- 
bly a  law  by  which  a  Council,  consisting  of  five  members 
elected  by  the  Deputies,  should  receive  the  power  to  assist 
the  Regent,  and  by  which  Count  de  Palikao  should  be  ap- 
pointed Lieutenant  General,  and  President  of  this  Council. 

This  proposition  was  submitted  to  the  Deputies  at  the 
sitting  which  was  opened  a  few  hours  later — at  1  p.m. — 
but  did  not  meet  with  the  approval  of  the  majority ;  it 
was  rejected,  with  many  others,  and  the  project  of  M. 
Buffet  was  declared  to  be  the  only  acceptable  one.  This 
gentleman,  therefore,  accompanied  by  MM.  Daru,  Kolb- 
Bernard,  Genton,  d'Ayguesvives,  Baron  de  Pierres,  and 
M.  Dupuy-de-L6me,  was  sent  to  the  Tuileries,  in  order 
to  request  her  Majesty  to  renounce  her  power  and  to  hand 
it  over  to  the  Legislative  body. 

The  Empress  received  the  Deputation  graciously,  yet 
with  great  dignity,  and  without  apparent  agitation.  The 
interview  took  place  in  the  Salon  Bleu,  adjoining  her  Ma- 
jesty's private  cabinet.  M.  Buffet  spoke  first,  explaining 
the  project  in  the  name  of  his  colleagues.  This  he  did  at 
considerable  length,  setting  forth  its  purpose  with  clearness 
and  force,  and  exhibiting  deep  feeling.  He  was  followed  by 
M.  Daru,  who  spoke  strongly  in  favor  of  the  measure. 


246         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

The  Empress  listened  calmly  to  the  speeches  of  the 
Deputies,  and  then,  as  if  under  the  influence  of  a  sort  of 
inspiration,  she  replied : 

"  Gentlemen,  you  say  the  future  can  be  insured  on 
condition  that  I  now,  and  at  an  hour  of  the  greatest  peril, 
abandon  the  post  that  has  been  confided  to  me.  I  must  not, 
I  cannot,  consent  to  that.  The  future  occupies  me  to-day  the 
least  of  all  things — I  mean,  not,  of  course,  the  future  of 
France,  but  the  future  of  our  dynasty.  Believe  me,  gen- 
tlemen, the  trials  through  which  I  have  passed  have  been 
so  painful,  so  horrible,  that,  at  the  present  moment,  the 
thought  of  preserving  the  crown  to  the  Emperor,  and  to 
my  son,  gives  me  very  little  anxiety.  My  only  care,  my 
only  ambition,  is  to  fulfil  to  the  utmost  the  duties  which 
have  been  imposed  upon  me.  If  you  believe,  if  the  Legisla- 
tive Body  believes,  that  I  am  an  encumbrance,  that  the  name 
of  the  Emperor  is  an  obstacle,  and  not  a  source  of  strength 
in  the  attempt  to  master  the  situation  and  organize  the 
defense,  then  you  ought  to  pronounce  the  dethronement; 
and  if  you  do,  I  will  not  complain,  for  then  I  shall  be  able 
to  leave  my  place  with  honor.  I  should  not,  in  that  case, 
have  deserted  it.  My  honor,  my  duty,  and,  above  all,  the 
interests  of  the  country  in  the  presence  of  a  triumphant 
enemy,  require  that  the  integrity  of  the  Government  should 
be  maintained.  I  shall  remain  till  the  very  last  moment 
where  I  have  been  placed,  faithful  to  my  office.  Were  I 
to  do  otherwise,  like  a  soldier  who  deserts  his  post  in 
the  hour  of  peril,  I  should  betray  the  trust  the  Emperor 
has  confided  to  me.  I  am  persuaded  that  the  only  sensible 
and  patriotic  course  the  Representatives  of  the  country 
can  take,  will  be  to  gather  around  me  and  around  my  Gov- 
ernment, to  leave  aside,  for  the  moment,  all  questions  of 
party,  and  to  unite  their  efforts  strictly  with  mine  in  order 
to  meet  the  invasion." 

After  these  words,  the  Empress  recalled  to  the  Deputies 
the  noble  behavior  of  the  Cortes  of  Spain  in  Cadiz,  who 


THE   EMPRESS   EUGENIE. 
From  a  photograph  taken  by  W.  and  I>    Downey  in  1871. 


FALL    OF    THE    SECOND    EMPIRE        247 

remained  true  to  their  captive  King,  and  who  were  re- 
warded for  their  unchangeable  devotion  and  their  ener- 
getic perseverance  by  the  final  triumph  of  their  cause. 

' '  As  for  myself, ' '  she  continued,  ' '  I  am  ready  to  meet 
all  dangers,  and  to  follow  the  Legislative  Body  to  any  place 
where  it  may  decide  to  organize  the  defense ;  and  even 
should  a  defense  be  found  impossible,  I  believe  I  might 
still  be  useful  in  obtaining  the  most  favorable  terms  of 
peace. 

"  Yesterday  the  Representative  of  a  great  Power  pro- 
posed to  me  to  secure  the  mediation  of  the  neutral  countries 
upon  these  two  grounds:  '  Integrity  of  the  French  terri- 
tory, and  the  maintenance  of  the  Imperial  dynasty.'  I 
answered  that  I  was  disposed  to  accept  a  mediation  upon 
the  first  basis,  but  I  energetically  refused  it  upon  the 
second.  The  preservation  of  the  dynasty  is  a  subject  which 
regards  France  alone,  and  I  will  never  permit  foreign 
Powers  to  interfere  with  our  interior  affairs. ' ' 

Although  these  words  of  her  Majesty  made  a  great  im- 
pression upon  the  persons  present,  M.  Daru  insisted  that 
the  Empress  should  leave  her  post,  and  he  undertook  to 
prove  that,  if  her  Majesty  did  not  willingly  resign  her 
place,  sooner  or  later  she  would  be  forced  to  do  so;  while 
by  her  spontaneous  resignation,  he  argued,  strength  would 
be  given  to  the  Legislative  Body  as  well  as  to  the  new 
Government,  and  thus  the  country  might  be  saved. 

The  objection  of  the  Empress  to  the  plan  proposed  was 
that  she  could  not  accept  it  without  seeming  to  desert  her 
post  at  the  moment  of  danger.  "  In  case  it  is  considered 
that  the  retention  of  the  Executive  power  in  my  hands  is 
an  obstacle  to  the  union  of  the  French  people,  and  preju- 
dicial to  the  defense,  do  you  think,  gentlemen,  that  it  would 
be  a  great  pretension,  on  the  part  of  a  woman  who  should 
voluntarily  give  up  a  throne,  to  ask  of  the  Chamber  permis- 
sion to  remain  in  Paris — in  any  place  that  might  be  as- 
signed to  her,  provided  she  might  be  permitted  to  share  the 


M8         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

dangers,  the  anxieties,  and  the  suffering  of  the  besieged 
capital  ? 

"  Do  you  believe  then,"  she  continued,  "  that  it  is 
agreeable  to  me  to  hold  on  to  the  powers  of  the  Govern- 
ment ?  ' '  and,  hesitating  for  a  moment,  she  added,  in  a  voice 
expressing  deep  feeling,  "  Yes,  you  have  seen  me  the 
crowned  sovereign  of  your  holidays.  Nothing  hereafter  can 
soften  the  bitter  memory  of  this  hour.  All  the  mourning  of 
France  I  shall  carry  forever  in  my  soul. ' ' 

Pressed  on  all  sides,  yielding  rather  than  persuaded,  her 
Majesty  finally  declared  that  if  the  Council  of  the  Regency 
and  her  Minister  of  War  approved  of  the  act,  she  would 
resign. 

"  You  desire  it,  gentlemen,"  she  said;  "it  is  not 
the  way  I  have  regarded  it ;  but  I  leave  aside  all  personal 
considerations;  only  I  wish  to  act  in  a  regular  manner. 
I  wish  that  my  Cabinet  should  be  consulted.  If  my  Min- 
isters agree  with  you  with  respect  to  the  course  you  propose 
that  I  should  take,  I  shall  make  no  opposition. 

'  Speak  to  M.  de  Palikao,  gentlemen.  If  he  agrees  to 
my  resignation,  and  if  he  thinks  it  necessary,  I  will 
tender  it." 

"  Then  you  do  permit  us,"  said  M.  Buffet,  "  to  an- 
nounce this  decision  to  the  Assembly,  and  to  M.  de 
Palikao?  " 

"  Yes,"  answered  the  Empress,  "  you  may  go  and 
do  so." 

The  Delegates  now  rose  to  retire,  each  one  of  them 
bowing  low  before  her,  who  was  still  their  sovereign,  and 
who  took  leave  of  them,  extending  her  hand  to  each,  which 
they  kissed  with  emotion.  "  My  eyes  were  filled  with 
tears,"  said  M.  Buffet,  "  as  I  came  away  after  having 
witnessed  such  magnanimity  and  disinterestedness. ' '  * 

The   perfect    calmness   and  self-possession   maintained 

*  "  Enquete  Parlementaire,"  tome  ii,  p.  143  ff. 


FALL    OF    THE    SECOND    EMPIRE        249 

by  the  Empress  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  this  in- 
terview greatly  impressed  all  the  members  of  the  Deputa- 
tion; and  especially  when,  in  the  midst  of  the  interview, 
a  young  man  came  into  the  salon  without  having  been 
previously  announced,  and  cried  in  a  loud  voice,  "  They 
are  there  in  the  Place  de  la  Concorde!  "  The  members 
of  the  Deputation  were  startled  by  this  sudden,  sharp  cry 
of  alarm ;  but  her  Majesty  remained  unmoved. 

When  the  Deputation  reentered  the  Palais-Bourbon,  the 
sitting  had  just  been  suspended,  and  the  committees  had 
retired  to  their  bureaus  in  order  to  deliberate  upon  three 
different  propositions:  one  made  by  General  de  Palikao, 
another  by  M.  Thiers,  and  the  third  by  M.  Jules  Favre. 
It  was  therefore  too  late  for  the  President  to  submit  a 
new  proposal  to  the  Chamber,  and  the  Delegates,  in  conse- 
quence, had  to  report  separately,  in  their  respective  com- 
mittee-rooms, the  result  of  their  conference  with  the 
Empress. 

When  the  decision  of  the  Empress  became  known  to  the 
members  sitting  in  committee,  the  last  cause  for  hesitation 
was  removed,  and  the  proposition  of  M.  Thiers  was,  with 
a  small  amendment,  adopted  by  the  majority.  This  propo- 
sition, after  its  modification,  read  as  follows : 

"  In  view  of  the  circumstances,  the  Chamber  will  pro- 
ceed to  choose  a  Government  Commission  for  the  National 
Defense.  It  shall  consist  of  five  members,  to  be  elected 
by  the  Legislative  Body.  This  Commission  will  appoint 
the  Ministry.  As  soon  as  the  circumstances  shall  permit, 
the  nation  will  be  called  upon  to  elect  a  Constituent  Assem- 
bly, the  duty  of  which  shall  be  to  decide  upon  the  form; 
of  Government." 

A  little  after  two  o'clock  the  Deputies  reentered  the 
Audience  Chamber,  but,  to  their  astonishment,  they  found 
it  occupied  by  the  mob.  The  galleries  of  the  Chamber  had, 
ever  since  noon,  been  crowded  with  agitators  from  the 
faubourgs;  and  when,  at  1.30  p.m.,  the  Deputies  retired 


250         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

for  deliberation,  these  individuals  went  out  upon  the  peri- 
style of  the  building,  in  order  to  put  themselves  in  com- 
munication with  the  throng  that  filled  the  streets  around 
the  Legislative  Palace,  and  had  gathered  on  the  Bridge 
and  on  the  Place  de  la  Concorde. 

About  twenty  minutes  later,  a  band  of  rioters,  led  by 
"  Pipe-en-Bois, "  a  burlesque  celebrity  of  the  time,  forced 
its  way  into  the  building;  and,  in  spite  of  the  firmness 
of  M.  Schneider,  the  President,  who  kept  his  seat  and  tried 
to  maintain  order,  the  Audience  Chamber  was  soon  filled 
with  insurgents,  some  armed  and  in  uniform,  and  some 
in  blouses,  a  motley  mob  of  men  and  boys,  screaming  ' ;  Vive 
la  Bepublique!  "  "  Decheance!  "  and  rending  the  air  with 
their  clamor.  They  even  pushed  in  among  the  benches 
of  the  Deputies,  so  that  when  the  latter  returned  they 
found  most  of  their  seats  occupied. 

The  tumult  increased  from  moment  to  moment.  Not- 
withstanding the  efforts  of  M.  Schneider,  and  the  appeals 
of  Gambetta  and  other  leaders  of  the  Opposition,  the 
order  necessary  for  the  transaction  of  business  could  not 
be  restored;  the  voices  of  the  speakers  were  drowned  by  the 
hooting  of  the  mob,  and  the  president,  putting  on  his  hat, 
was  compelled  to  suspend  the  sitting. 

The  reader  naturally  will  be  astonished  to  learn  that 
no  military  force  was  used  to  protect  the  Legislative  Body ; 
that  no  guard  had  been  kept  there  as  a  precautionary 
measure,  and  that  when,  the  mob  having  assembled,  the 
Governor  of  Paris  was  sent  for,  he  did  not  appear.  In 
fact,  General  Trochu  did  not  make  the  least  effort  to  inter- 
fere with  the  invasion  of  the  Palais-Bourbon ;  nor  with  that 
of  the  Tuileries,  which,  as  will  be  seen,  was  the  object  of 
a  formidable  demonstration  shortly  afterward. 

It  is  not  necessary  that  I  should  give  my  opinion  with 
respect  to  the  conduct  of  General  Trochu  on  this  occasion. 
Napoleon  III.  described  it  as  "  flagrant  treason." 

In  a  pamphlet  published  shortly  before  his  death,  en- 


FALL    OF    THE    SECOND    EMPIRE        251 

titled  "  Les  Principes  par  un  Ancien  Diplomate,"  the 
Emperor  speaks  of  General  Trochu  as  follows : 

"  There  we  have  a  military  man  who  has  sworn  allegi- 
ance to  the  Emperor,  and  who  receives  from  him  at  a 
moment  of  supreme  importance  the  greatest  mark  of  confi- 
dence. He  is  appointed  Commander-in-Chief  of  all  the 
forces  assembled  in  the  capital.  His  duty  is  to  watch  over 
the  life  of  the  Empress.  And  this  man,  who  on  the  morn- 
ing of  the  4th  of  September  declares  to  the  Regent  that 
any  one  attempting  to  approach  her  will  have  to  pass  first 
over  his  body,  permits  the  Palais-Bourbon  and  the  Tuileries 
to  be  invaded ;  and,  but  a  few  hours  after  his  solemn  protes- 
tation, usurps  the  power,  and  declares  himself  President 
of  the  Government  of  the  National  Defense. 

' '  Never  has  there  been  a  treason  committed  more  black, 
more  flagrant,  more  unpardonable;  for  it  was  committed 
against  a  woman,  and  at  the  time  of  a  foreign  invasion. 
And  this  man,  who  must  be  called  a  traitor — for  this  name 
he  deserves — seems  nevertheless  to  enjoy  general  esteem. 
He  is  elected  in  several  departments  to  the  National  Assem- 
bly by  ignorant  voters,  and  people  do  not  blush  to  shake  his 
hand;  they  even  make  him  President  of  the  Commission 
that  has  to  decide  upon  points  of  honor. 

"  Does  not  this  fact  plainly  demonstrate  that  we  have 
lost  our  moral  sense?  What  a  contrast  between  this  and 
an  event  which  happened  in  the  sixteenth  century ! 

"  When  the  Constable  of  Bourbon,  who  had  conspired 
against  Francis  I.,  went  to  Spain,  Charles  V.  obliged  one 
of  the  gentlemen  of  his  Court,  the  Marquis  of  Villena,  to 
lodge  the  Constable.  The  Marquis  obeyed.  But  when  his 
guest  had  departed,  he  burned  down  his  house,  declaring 
that  he  had  no  wish  to  preserve  a  house  which  had  given 
shelter  to  a  traitor. ' ' 

These  are  the  words  of  the  Emperor.  And  in  order  that 
the  reader  may  decide  whether  they  contain  a  just  judg- 
ment, I  will  give  an  account  of  the  proceedings  of  General 


252         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

Trochu  on  the  4th  of  September,  basing  my  narrative  upon 
official  documents. 

In  the  Cabinet  Council  that  was  held  on  the  morning 
of  the  4th,  and  which  I  have  mentioned  above,  General 
Trochu  had  been  warned  by  the  Empress  that  an  insurrec- 
tional movement  would  in  all  probability  take  place.  At 
half  past  one  o'clock  he  was  informed  by  M.  Vallette,  the 
Secretary- General  to  the  President  of  the  Legislative  As- 
sembly, that  M.  Schneider  feared  there  might  be  an  out- 
break. Toward  two  o'clock,  General  Lebreton,  Questor 
of  the  Assembly,  feeling  very  great  anxiety  on  account  of 
the  attitude  of  the  Gardes  Nationaux  and  the  indications  of 
unusual  popular  excitement,  went  personally  to  the  Gov- 
ernor of  Paris  in  order  to  inform  him  of  the  gravity  of  the 
situation.  When  he  arrived  at  the  Louvre  he  was  at  first 
told  that  the  Governor  could  not  receive  him,  as  he  was 
very  busy.  M.  Lebreton,  however,  insisted,  and  was  finally 
admitted  into  his  presence.  He  stated  to  General  Trochu 
that  the  mob  were  surrounding  the  Palais-Bourbon,  and 
that  some  of  the  leaders  had  already  entered  the  building. 
He  implored  him  to  go  at  once  to  this  place  of  danger,  as 
his  presence  was  necessary,  and  for  the  reason  that  he 
alone,  by  his  immense  popularity,  would  be  able  to  keep 
order  and  protect  the  national  Representatives.  General 
Trochu  answered  that  it  would  be  impossible  for  him 
to  do  so,  alleging  that  for  several  days  his  popularity 
had  been  decreasing,  and  that  General  de  Palikao,  the 
Minister  of  War,  had  succeeded  in  annihilating  him  com- 
pletely. 

"  At  present  it  is  too  late,"  he  said;  "  I  cannot  do 
anything. ' '  To  which  M.  Lebreton  replied,  ' '  No,  it  is  not 
too  late ;  but  there  is  not  a  moment  to  be  lost  ' ' ;  for  he  was 
perfectly  persuaded  that  the  presence  of  the  Governor 
would  be  sufficient  to  prevent  all  trouble.* 


*  "  Enquete  Parlementaire,"  tome  ii,  p.  149. 


FALL    OF    THE    SECOND    EMPIRE        258 

At  last  General  Troclm  agreed  to  go ;  and  when  the 
Questor  saw  him  off,  he  had  no  doubt  that  he  would  go 
to  the  Palais-Bourbon  to  deliver  the  Assembly  from  the 
threatening  danger. 

In  fact,  General  Trochu,  accompanied  by  two  officers, 
started  on  the  way  towards  the  building  where  the  Repre- 
sentatives were  sitting.  He  passed  through  the  Court  of 
the  Tuileries,  went  to  the  Place  du  Carrousel,  from  there 
to  the  Quay,  which  he  followed  until  he  arrived  at  the  Pont 
de  Solferino,  and  then  stopped  and  waited ;  because,  as 
he  said,  ' '  the  crowd  was  too  dense  at  this  point  for  anybody 
to  pass."  M.  Lebreton,  who  had  left  the  Louvre  at  the 
same  time,  passed  through  this  crowd  without  difficulty, 
and  reentered  the  Palais-Bourbon.  M.  Jules  Favre  and 
several  other  Deputies  were,  at  about  the  same  time,  also 
able  to  push  through  the  crowd,  and  succeeded  in  making 
their  way  from  the  Palais-Bourbon  to  the  Louvre. 

Soon  after  the  mob  had  broken  into  the  Audience 
Chamber  of  the  Legislative  Assembly,  Jules  Favre,  Jules 
Ferry,  Keratry,  and  several  other  members  bitterly  hos- 
tile to  the  Imperial  Government,  decided  to  go  to  the 
Hotel  de  Ville,  there  to  proclaim  the  Republic  and  seize 
on  the  supreme  power;  and  M.  de  Keratry  remarked  to 
M.  Jules  Favre  "  that  he  was  certain  he  would  meet  on 
the  way  to  the  Hotel  de  Ville,  General  Trochu,  whose  as- 
sistance would  be  necessary. ' '  *  How  M.  de  Keratry  was 
sure  that  he  would  meet  the  General,  we  do  not  know,  but 
the  fact  is  that  he  and  his  associates  did  find  the  General 
waiting.  "  We  met  him,"  says  M.  de  Keratry,  "  on  the 
Quay  of  the  Tuileries,  in  front  of  the  Conseil  d'Etat,  on 
horseback,  surrounded  by  his  staff.  It  was  evident  that 
he  was  waiting  there  for  the  development  of  events." 

M.  Jules  Favre,  accosting  him,  said:  "  General,  there 
is  no   longer  a  Legislative  body.     We  are   going  to  the 


*  Deposition  de  M.  Keratry,  "  Enquete  Parlementaire,"  tome  i,  p.  650. 
18 


254         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

Hotel  de  Ville.     Be  so  good  as  to  go  back  to  the  Louvre. 
We  will  communicate  with  you  there." 

Upon  this  the  Governor  quietly  returned  to  the  Louvre. 
On  his  way  he,  of  course,  had  to  pass  the  Tuileries,  where 
the  sovereign  was  to  whom  he  had  sworn  in  the  morning 
that  no  one  should  approach  her  except  over  his  dead  body. 
Half  an  hour  later  the  Tuileries  were  threatened  by  the 
rioters ;  and  no  one  being  there  to  defend  the  Empress,  her 
Majesty,  as  will  be  stated  in  a  subsequent  chapter,  was 
obliged  to  leave  her  palace  as  best  she  could. 

About  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  MM.  Steenackers 
and  Glais-Bizoin  came  to  the  head-quarters  of  the  Military 
Governor  to  beg  General  Trochu  to  go  to  the  Hotel  de  Ville. 
The  Governor  took  off  his  uniform,  put  on  citizen's  dress — 
as  if  he  could  lay  aside  his  allegiance  with  his  coat,  as  if 
duty  were  merely  a  question  of  clothes — and  went. 

When  General  Trochu  arrived  at  the  Hotel  de  Ville, 
M.  Jules  Favre  and  his  associates  had  already  usurped  the 
sovereign  power  and  declared  themselves  to  be  the  Gov- 
ernment. On  being  informed  of  this,  the  General  put  the 
following  question  to  the  usurpers:  "  Will  you  protect 
these  three  principles:  God,  the  Family,  and  Property?  ' 
This  question  was  answered  affirmatively  by  M.  Jules 
Favre  and  his  colleagues. 

"  Upon  this  condition,"  General  Trochu  then  added, 
"  I  am  yours,  provided  you  make  me  President  of  your 
Government.  It  is  indispensable  that  I  should  occupy 
this  post." 

The  new  Government,  knowing  well  that  General  Tro- 
chu would  be  necessary  for  the  triumph  of  their  cause, 
acceded  to  his  wish  Avithout  hesitation.  And  so  General 
Trochu,  who  in  the  morning  had  been  the  Imperial  Gov- 
ernor of  the  city  of  Paris,  was  in  the  evening  President 
of  the  Insurrectional  Government. 

These  are  the  simple  facts  regarding  General  Trochu 's 
conduct  on  the  4th  of  September,  1870;  and  from  these 


FALL    OF    THE    SECOND    EMPIRE        255 

facts  alone  the  reader  can  decide  for  himself  whether  or 
not  the  judgment  which  Napoleon  III.  pronounced  against 
the  Governor  of  Paris  is  just.* 

The  condition  of  things  that  obtained  in  the  Legislative 
Chamber  after  the  close  of  the  sitting  and  the  de- 
parture of  the  Deputies  and  the  members  of  the  Cabinet, 
baffles  description.  National  guards,  workmen,  vagabonds, 
thieves,  and  half-grown  boys — the  mob — in  a  compact 
mass  crowded  into  every  part  of  the  Palais-Bourbon,  shout- 
ing and  howling  and  gesticulating  in  a  wild  tumult  of 
disorder.  Two  young  ruffians  made  a  rush  for  the  Presi- 
dential chair,  and  seated  themselves  in  it  at  the  same 
moment,  one  of  them  seizing  the  President's  bell,  which 
he  rang  with  violence  and  for  a  long  time.  Others,  stand- 
ing on  the  desks  of  the  Deputies,  were  haranguing  the 
' '  citizens, ' '  and  urging  them  not  to  leave  the  building  until 
the  Republic  had  been  reestablished  as  well  as  "  pro- 
claimed." The  uproar  increasing,  an  effort  was  made  to 
clear  the  floor  of  the  Chamber,  but  with  small  result;  and 
the  galleries  remained  full  of  people,  centers  of  commotion 
and  of  noise;  a  hundred  persons  were  speaking,  but  only 
occasionally  could  a  word  be  heard — a  word  of  rage 
or  of  insult — "  a  bas  " — "  conspuez  Bonaparte — et  sa 
femme."  Soon  cigars,  pipes,  and  cigarettes  were  lighted, 
and  a  dense  cloud  of  tobacco-smoke  obscured  the  atmos- 
phere. This  pandemonium  was  kept  up  until  it  was  too 
dark  to  see,  when,  the  rioters  having  slipped  away  one  by 
one,  silence  reigned  instead  in  every  room  of  the  vast,  som- 
ber, and  deserted  Legislative  Palace,  until,  a  few  weeks 
later,  it  was  filled  with  the  wounded  and  the  dying  brought 
in  from  the  battle-fields  around  Paris. 

It  was  about  four  o'clock  when  the  Prince  de  la  Tour 
d  'Auvergne  returned  to  the  Foreign  Office  from  the  Palais- 
Bourbon,  which  he  had  vainly  endeavored  to  protect,  and 

*  See  Appendix,  VII. 


256         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

meeting  there  M.  Clement  Duvernois,  said  to  him:  "  "What 
has  taken  place  is  terrible  for  the  dynasty,  but  it  is  still 
more  terrible  for  the  country;  because  this  morning  we 
had  the  support  of  conservative  Europe  to  enable  us  to 
conclude  an  honorable  peace,  and  this  afternoon  we  have 
lost  it."* 

"We  have  seen  how  the  Palais-Bourbon  was  invaded  on 
the  4th  of  September.  Let  us  now  see  what  took  place 
on  this  memorable  day  at  the  Luxembourg. 

Here,  at  half  past  twelve  o'clock,  the  session  of  the 
Senate  is  opened  under  the  Presidency  of  M.  Rouher. 

A  Senator,  M.  Chabrier,  immediately  mounts  the  Tri- 
bune, and  says  that  he  desires  to  send  his  ' '  last  good 
wishes  and  last  homage  to  the  Emperor."  He  ends  his 
speech  with  a  phrase  which  has  often  been  heard  in 
France,  "  Vive  VEmpereur!  " 

The  Prince  Poniatowski :  "  Vive  VEmpereur!  ' 

M.  de  Segur  d'Aguesseau:  "  Vive  I'Imperatrice!  ' 

M.  de  Flamarens,  believing  that  the  Deputies  have 
already  proclaimed  the  fall  of  the  Empire,  protests  against 
this  act,  and  declares  it  to  be  unconstitutional,  and  con- 
cludes with  the  exclamation,  "  Vive  le  Prince  Imperial! 
Vive  la  Dynast  ie!  " 

M.  de  Chabrier:  "  That  is  understood!  " 

Numerous  voices:  "  Vive  VEmpereur!  ' 

M.  Nisarcl :  ' '  Vanquished  and  a  prisoner,  he  is 
sacred!  "     (Marks  of  approbation.) 

After  this  the  whole  Senate  cries  together :  "  Vive  VEm- 
pereur! Vive  VImperatrice!  Vive  le  Prince  Imperial! 
Vive  la  Dynastie!  " 

M.  Rouher,  in  a  voice  trembling  with  emotion,  makes 
a  patriotic  speech,  which  he  closes  with  these  words :  ' '  In 
presence  of  the  gravity  of  these  events,  we  shall  know 


*  "  Enquete  Parlementaire,"  tome  i,  p.  225. 


FALL    OF    THE    SECOND    EMPIRE        257 

how  to  show  the  firmness  of  our  purpose  and  a  resolute 
and  indomitable  courage."   (Applause.) 

M.  Quentin-Bauchart :  ' '  And  a  sense  of  our  honor !  ' ' 

M.  Rouher :  "  I  propose  to  the  Senate  to  declare  its 
sittings  permanent!"  ("Yes!  yes!")  "The  sitting 
will  be  suspended,  but  will  be  opened  again  as  soon  as  I 
have  news  from  the  Legislative  Assembly.  I  ask  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Senate  not  to  leave  the  building." 

After  this  the  Senators  gather  about  the  desk  of 
the  President,  who  is  surrounded  on  all  sides,  and  every 
one  congratulates  him  on  having  so  well  expressed  the 
heroic  sentiments  by  which  the  Senate  is  animated.  On  the 
conclusion  of  this  demonstration  the  members  retire,  full 
of  patriotic  feeling  and  with  resolution  in  their  faces. 

When  the  news  of  the  invasion  of  the  Chamber  of  Depu- 
ties arrives,  M.  Rouher  instructs  the  ushers  to  call  the  Sena- 
tors together  again ;  and  it  is  as  late  as  half  past  two  o'clock 
when  these  ushers  are  seen,  still  rushing  through  the  corri- 
dors, crying,  "  En  seance,  messieurs!  en  seance!  " 

And  now  the  President  announces  in  a  faltering  voice 
that  the  mob  has  entered  the  Palais-Bourbon.  Then  he 
adds,  ' '  Does  the  Senate  wish  to  remain  in  session,  although 
it  is  probable  that  no  bill  will  be  presented  to  us,  for  the 
Legislative  Assembly  cannot  deliver  it?  " 

A  good  many  of  the  Senators  think  that  it  would  be 
just  as  well  to  retire;  but  MM.  de  Mentque  and  Segur 
d  'Aguesseau  declare  that  the  Senate  must  remain  in  perma- 
nent session.  M.  Laradit  agrees  with  them,  and  adds  that 
it  is  necessary  "  to  protest  against  the  violence  which  pre- 
vents the  Representatives  of  the  people  from  deliberating 
calmly  and  freely  ";  and  M.  Emile  de  Girardin  calls  out 
that  he  is  here  in  virtue  of  the  Plebiscitum,  a  representative 
of  7,500,000  votes,  and  that  he  will  not  go  out  except  by 
force.    The  sitting  is  again  suspended. 

After  a  pause  of  half  an  hour  the  sitting  is  resumed,  and 
M.  Rouher  announces  that  he  has  just  been  informed  that 


258         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

the  mob  has  already  taken  entire  possession  of  the  Palais- 
Bourbon,  and  that  deliberations  there  are  for  the  moment 
impossible ;  and  he  adds :  "  I  do  not  know  what  action  the 
Senate  will  take,  but,  whatever  it  may  be,  it  is  my  duty  to 
protest  against  the  invasion  by  force  that  has  paralyzed  the 
exercise  of  one  of  our  great  public  powers."  ("  Hear! 
Hear!  ")  "  Now  I  am  at  the  orders  of  the  Senate  to  know 
whether  you  will  remain  in  session,  or  whether  you  wish  to 
adjourn,  to  meet  again  as  soon  as  it  is  necessary.  It  is  your 
right  to  make  the  decision,  and  I  call  for  it. ' ' 

Whatever  the  Senate  may  have  wished,  M.  de  Mentque 
persists  in  demanding  that  the  Senators  remain  in  their 
places.  This  time  his  proposition  is  received  not  with 
general  approbation,  but  by  what  is  called  in  French  ' '  des 
mouvements  divers." 

M.  Rouher  then  says :  ' '  Were  the  mob  at  our  doors,  it 
would  be  our  imperative  duty  to  face  it;  but  we  are  not 
menaced,  nor  can  we  deliberate.  It  is  simply  a  question 
of  dignity,  which  I  shall  not  discuss;  but  I  am  ready  to 
execute  the  will  of  the  Senate. ' ' 

M.  Baroche  agrees  with  M.  Rouher;  and  while  pro- 
testing against  the  assault  on  the  independence  of  the 
Chamber  of  Deputies,  and  regretting  that  he  cannot  even 
die  in  the  Senate  Chamber,  as  he  would  like  to  do,  says: 
"  And  now,  what  can  we  do?  We  can  do  nothing  here. 
Perhaps  we  can  render  service  to  the  country  and  to  the 
dynasty  outside,  for  I  wish  to  speak  loudly  for  the  dynasty. 
(Applause.)  Besides,  by  separating,  we  yield  to  force  and 
not  to  fear,  and  our  purpose  is  to  defend,  by  our  personal 
influence,  order,  and  the  Imperial  dynasty  to  the  very  last 
moment. ' ' 

M.  de  Mentque  still  tries  to  keep  his  colleagues  together, 
and  proposes  to  wait  at  least  until  5  p.m.  The  proposition, 
put  to  a  vote,  is  rejected.  A  night  session  is  then  proposed. 
With  reference  to  this  proposal,  M.  Rouher  remarks  that 
he  will  do  what  he  can  to  call  the  Senate  together,  but 


FALL    OF    THE    SECOND    EMPIRE         259 

that  the  convocation  of  the  Senate  in  the  night  might  not 
be  accomplished  without  difficulty. 

Several  other  propositions  are  made,  and,  while  a  con- 
fused debate  is  going  on  between  the  Senators  Gressier, 
Dupin,  and  Haussmann,  M.  Rouher  takes  the  occasion  to 
leave  the  Senate  Chamber.  In  his  absence  the  Vice-Presi- 
dent, M.  Boudet,  ascends  the  Tribune  and  closes  the  session 
with  the  words,  "  I  request  the  Senate  to  come  together 
to-morrow  at  the  usual  hour — two  o'clock — unless  the 
President  should  call  us  together  sooner."  A  resolution 
to  that  effect  is  at  once  adopted,  and  the  Senators  adjourn 
at  3.30  p.m. 

During  the  whole  time  this  sitting  lasted  no  mob  had 
come  to  invade  the  Luxembourg.  The  Senators  seemed 
to  have  been  entirely  forgotten  by  the  people.  The  cause 
was  the  limited  and  entirely  local  character  of  the  insurrec- 
tion, as  will  be  soon  shown. 

Late  in  the  evening  an  anonymous  communication  was 
sent  to  the  new  Government,  stating  that  there  would  be 
a  night  session  of  the  Senate,  in  the  Luxembourg  Palace. 
Upon  receiving  this,  M.  Eugene  Pelletan,  the  only  member 
of  the  new  Government  at  that  time  present  in  the  Hotel 
de  Ville,  ordered  M.  Floquet,  a  representative  of  the  Mu- 
nicipal administration,  to  seal  up  the  doors  of  the  Senate 
Chamber.  In  conformity  with  this  order,  M.  Floquet,  ac- 
companied by  two  friends,  went  to  the  Palace  of  the  Lux- 
embourg, where  he  arrived  toward  ten  o'clock.  He  was 
announced,  and  the  Grand  Referendary,  M.  Ferdinand 
Barrot,  and  General  de  Montfort,  the  Governor  of  the  Pal- 
ace, descended  into  the  court  to  meet  him.  M.  Floquet 
handed  to  the  Grand  Referendary,  who  was  surrounded 
by  two  squadrons  of  gendarmes,  the  order  of  the  insurrec- 
tionary Government.  On  receiving  it,  this  gentleman 
replied,  "  I  yield  to  force." 

After  having  submitted  to  force,  M.  Barrot  asked  if 
he  might  remain  in  the  palace,  and  if  the  Senators  would 


260         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

be  permitted  to  enter  their  committee-rooms  to  remove  the 
articles  belonging  to  them.  M.  Floquet  answered  in  the 
affirmative,  and  while  the  Grand  Referendary  was  retiring, 
began  quietly  to  seal  up  the  doors,  and  thus  put  an  end 
to  the  existence  of  the  Senate  of  the  Second  Empire.* 

*  "  Journal  du  Siege  de  Paris,"  par  Georges  d'Heylli,  tome  i,  p.  21 
et  seq.  (Compte-rendu  stenographique  de  la  derniere  seance  du  Senat.) 
"  Histoire  du  Second  Empire,"  par  Taxile  Delord,  tome  vi,  p.  516  et  seq. 


CHAPTER    IX 

DEPARTURE   OF    THE   EMPRESS   FROM    THE   TUILERIES 

The  invasion  of  the  Tuileries — General  Mellinet  parleys  with  the  in- 
vaders— How  the  palace  was  protected — The  interior  of  the 
Tuileries — The  Empress  waits  in  the  palace  to  hear  from  the 
Assembly — She  is  advised  to  leave — She  hesitates — Prince  de  Met- 
ternich  and  Signor  Nigra — M.  Pietri — The  Empress  bids  adieu  to 
her  friends — She  leaves  the  Tuileries — She  is  forced  to  return — 
Quite  by  chance — "The  Wreck  of  the  Medusa  " — "  Are  you  afraid?  " 
"Not  a  bit" — A  curious  coincidence — "II  faut  de  Vaudace" — 
"  Voila  I'lmperatrice  " — No  one  at  home — The  Empress  comes  to 
my  house. 

£&Jt£§|S3HE  events  which  took  place  on  the  4th  of  Sep- 
£v^l>?«§9  tember  within  the  walls  of  the  Palais-Bourbon 
plaJsglK  and  at  the  Luxembourg,  if  less  exciting  or  less 
**-^s&&*  interesting  to  the  reader  than  those  witnessed 
in  the  streets  of  Paris  and  at  the  Tuileries,  form,  never- 
theless, an  integral  and  essential  part  of  the  drama  that 
brought  the  Second  Empire  to  its  end.  All  these  acts  and 
scenes  are  closely  connected,  and  none  can  be  clearly  under- 
stood except  when  looked  at  in  its  relation  to  the  rest. 

Not  long  after  the  representatives  of  the  people — find- 
ing there  was  no  means  of  continuing  the  session  in  the 
Chamber — had  left  the  Palais-Bourbon,  a  section  of  the 
mob  that  had  gathered  upon  the  Place  de  la  Concorde 
approached  the  great  gates  at  the  entrance  of  the  Garden 
of  the  Tuileries,  which  were  held  by  a  detachment  of 
Zouaves  of  the  Guard.  Some  were  workmen  in  their 
Sunday  clothes;  others  wore  the  uniform  of  the  National 
Guard.     At  first,  seditious  cries  only  were  heard — "A  has 

261 


262         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

VEmpire!  "  "  Vive  la  Republique!  " — but  gradually  the 
band  came  nearer  and  nearer,  and  pressed  closer  and  closer, 
until  at  length  the  gates  were  reached;  and  then  the  ring- 
leaders began  to  knock  violently  on  the  iron  railing,  and  to 
demand  loudly  admittance  to  the  enclosure.  Very  soon  the 
eagles  that  ornamented  the  railing  were  broken  down,  the 
assailants  meeting  with  no  resistance.  Encouraged  by  this, 
these  men  began  to  push  against  the  gates,  which  were 
quickly  forced  open,  when  in  rushed  the  whole  band,  fol- 
lowed by  a  body  of  Mobiles  who  had  been  stationed  on  the 
Place  de  la  Concorde  since  noon. 

As  soon  as  the  basin  of  the  great  fountain  was  passed, 
the  invaders,  who  were  now  shouting  'Aux  Tuileries! 
Aux  Tuileries!  "  at  the  top  of  their  voices,  saw  the  Volti- 
geurs  of  the  Guard  massed  in  the  reserved  garden — and  they 
halted.  To  proceed  farther  would  be  dangerous.  In  view 
of  the  situation,  which  was  critical  in  the  extreme  and 
might  lead  to  a  disaster  at  any  moment,  M.  Louis  Revenez, 
of  the  Mobiles,  was  delegated  to  go  and  parley  with  the 
officer  in  command.  He  left  his  comrades  and  advanced 
alone,  with  a  white  handkerchief  fastened  to  the  end  of 
his  musket ;  but  he  was  joined  on  the  way  by  M.  Victorien 
Sardou,  M.  Armand  Gouzien,  and  by  one  or  two  other  per- 
sons. Having  reached  the  reserved  garden,  they  were 
stopped  by  a  sentinel,  who  asked  what  they  wanted.  The 
answer  was,  ' '  To  speak  to  the  Governor  of  the  Tuileries. ' ' 
A  short  parley  followed,  after  which,  two  or  three  of  these 
gentlemen  having  sent  him  their  cards,  requesting  an  inter- 
view, General  Mellinet,  the  Governor,  came  forward  and 
entered  into  conversation  with  them. 

They  told  him  that  the  Republic  had  been  proclaimed, 
and  that  the  people  were  clamoring  to  be  admitted  to  the 
Palace  of  the  Tuileries;  that  the  National  Guards  also  de- 
sired to  be  admitted,  on  the  ground  that  this  palace  was 
the  property  of  the  nation ;  and  that  they  themselves  had 
come  to  request  that  its  safe-keeping  be  entrusted  to  the 


DEPARTURE    OF    THE    EMPRESS        263 

National  Guards,  who,  they  assured  the  General,  would 
take  care  that  the  property  of  the  nation  should  be 
respected. 

"  Withdraw  the  Imperial  Guard,  let  the  National 
Guards  enter  the  reserved  garden,"  they  said,  "  and  you 
can  let  the  people  in,  and  there  will  be  no  disorder,  nor 
will  anything  be  destroyed;  for  the  palace  will  be  under 
the  protection  of  those  whom  the  people  respect." 

"  You  are  right,"  said  the  General,  "  and  especially 
since  the  Empress  has  already  left  the  Tuileries.  I  am 
quite  willing  to  withdraw  the  Imperial  troops,  on  condition 
that  their  places  are  immediately  taken  by  the  National 
Guards." 

Orders  were  then  given  to  retire  the  troops ;  and  as  they 
fell  back,  the  movement  being  observed,  the  invaders  began 
to  advance  towards  the  gate  near  which  General  Mellinet 
was  standing,  thinking  that  they  could  now  push  their 
way  through.  As  the  leaders  very  soon  assumed  a  threat- 
ening attitude,  General  Mellinet — who  had  been  joined  by 
M.  Ferdinand  de  Lesseps,  at  the  suggestion  of  M.  de  Lesseps 
or  of  M.  Sardou  that  the  invaders  should  be  held  back,  if 
possible,  a  little  while  longer — stepped  up  on  a  chair  and 
harangued  the  tumultuous  throng  that  had  gathered  in 
front  of  him,  with  great  spirit  and  most  happy  effect. 

The  old  General  was  very  popular  in  Paris.  He  was 
one  of  the  heroes  of  the  Crimea,  and  his  face,  slashed  by 
a  deep  saber  cut,  was  well  known  to  all  the  people,  and 
they  cheered  him  when  they  saw  him.  To  their  cries  of 
"  A  bas  V Empire  "  he  replied  by  pointing  to  the  flag- 
staff. 

"  You  see,"  he  said,  "  there  is  no  flag  there.  The 
Empress  has  gone." 

And  the  crowd  replied  with  a  long  "Ah!  ah!  ah!  " 
and  "  Vive  la  Republique!  " 

"  You  are  Frenchmen,"  continued  the  General,  "  and 
you  would  not  dishonor  yourselves  by  endeavoring  to  insult 


264         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

a  woman.  But  the  palace  and  these  grounds  are  the  prop- 
erty of  the  nation,  and  it  is  your  duty,  and  it  is  my  duty, 
to  protect  them.  The  Imperial  troops  will  be  withdrawn. 
But  commit  no  disorder.  If  you  make  an  attempt  to  do 
so,  I  shall  do  my  duty.     Go  back!  " 

While  the  General  was  holding  the  crowd  in  check, 
National  Guards  were  introduced  into  the  court  of  the 
Tuileries  from  the  post  near-by  in  the  Rue  de  l'Echelle, 
and  were  massed  in  ranks  in  front  of  the  palace,  and 
aligned  up  in  the  vestibule  and  carriage-way  leading 
through  the  palace  to  the  Place  du  Carrousel.  So  that 
when,  finally,  the  light  railing  enclosing  the  reserved  gar- 
den yielded  to  the  pressure  of  the  increasing  multitude, 
and  the  rabble  rushed  in  on  to  the  walks  and  over  the 
flower-beds,  they  were  soon  brought  to  a  halt,  and  then 
were  gradually  forced  back,  or  permitted  to  go  through 
the  carriage-way  and  across  the  inner  court  of  the  palace, 
between  a  double  file  of  guards  to  the  Place  beyond.  And 
so  into  the  vestibule  and  through  this  passage  the  crowd 
continued  to  move  for  nearly  an  hour ;  greatly  disconcerted, 
however,  to  find  a  guard  at  the  foot  of  each  staircase  and 
at  every  door  of  the  palace,  and  at  being  unable  to  visit 
the  interior  of  the  building,  and  drink  the  wine  from  the 
cellars,  and  masquerade  in  the  garments  of  princes,  and 
sleep  in  the  beds  of  their  sovereign,  as  their  progenitors 
had  done  in  1848. 

It  was  fortunate,  indeed,  that  the  companies  of  the 
National  Guard  stationed  in  the  neighborhood  of  the 
Tuileries  on  this  day  were  composed  largely  of  men  devoted 
to  the  cause  of  order.  They  were  prompt  to  obey  when 
authority  had  lost  its  sanction,  and  were  faithful  to  their 
self-assumed  trusts.  The  palace  was  well  protected;  not 
a  scratch  did  it  receive,  nor  was  there  an  article  taken 
from  it. 

As  the  crowd  scattered  towards  the  Hotel  de  Ville,  and 
the  howls  of  the  would-be  plunderers  of  the  palace  died 


DEPARTURE    OF    THE    EMPRESS        265 

away  in  the  distance,  quiet  reigned  again  at  the  Tuileries. 
Its  courts  were  deserted,  the  sentries  were  at  their  posts 
as  usual,  and  no  one  about  the  palace  seemed  to  know 
what  had  happened,  or  how  all  these  things  had  come 
to  pass. 

A  few  hours  later,  when  the  interior  of  the  Tuileries 
was  visited  by  the  representatives  of  the  new  Government, 
the  public  galleries  and  great  salons  were  found  to  present 
their  usual  appearance.  Many  of  the  old  guardians,  having 
laid  aside  the  Imperial  livery,  were  still  at  their  posts. 
It  was  only  on  entering  the  apartments  which  had  been 
occupied  by  the  Imperial  family,  that  any  appearance  of 
disorder  was  observed.  And  even  here  the  disorder  wTas 
more  apparent  than  real,  for  the  reason  that,  the  Empress 
having  returned  to  Paris  from  Saint  Cloud  unexpectedly 
early  in  August,  the  rooms  she  occupied  when  at  the 
Tuileries  had  not  been  prepared  for  her.  The  curtains  had 
been  taken  down  and  the  carpets  removed;  most  of  the 
furniture  was  covered  up,  and  some  of  it  had  been  sent 
off  for  repairs.  The  general  impression  conveyed  to  the 
mind  of  the  visitor  was  that  of  rooms  still  in  use,  but 
from  which  the  occupants  had  been  suddenly  called  away. 
The  standing  furniture,  the  clocks,  the  candelabra,  the  jar- 
dinieres, the  rich  bronzes  and  decorative  pieces,  were  all 
in  their  places,  the  pictures  on  the  walls,  and  the  books  on 
the  shelves,  in  their  cases.  The  commodes,  and  wardrobes 
also,  had  not  been  disturbed,  and  were  filled  with  clothing 
and  wearing-apparel  of  every  description.  But  light,  mov- 
able articles  were  scattered  about  in  nearly  every  room. 
In  the  cabinet  of  the  Empress,  her  table  was  found  just 
as  she  rose  from  it  for  the  last  time,  covered  with  writing- 
materials  and  the  latest  despatches;  not  one  had  been 
taken  away.  On  a  bureau  near-by  was  a  portmanteau  con- 
taining a  few  articles  of  clothing,  but  open,  as  if  being 
prepared  for  a  journey.  On  the  floor  were  two  or  three 
empty   hat-boxes.      In    an    adjoining    room,    a   breakfast, 


266         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

scarcely  touched,  remained  upon  the  table.  It  consisted 
of  a  boiled  egg,  a  little  cheese,  and  some  bread. 

In  the  study  of  the  Prince  Imperial  a  toy  was  lying 
upon  the  floor.  It  consisted  of  a  company  of  leaden  sol- 
diers, which  could  be  put  in  motion  by  the  turning  of  a 
handle.  An  exercise-book,  which  had  been  used  for  writ- 
ing historical  themes,  lay  open  upon  the  table.  One  leaf 
was  entirely  covered  with  a  small  and  correct  handwriting. 
The  theme  began  thus: 

"  Louis  XV.,  Bourbon,  Fleury,  1723-1741.  Regency 
resumed.  Bourbon,  1723-1725.  Bourbon.  Madame  de 
Prie,  Paris.  Duvernois  [Duvernay  was  intended].  At 
home,  corruption,  stock-jobbing,  frivolity,  intolerance. 
Abroad,  marriage  of  the  King  with  Marie  Lesczynska. 
Rupture  with  Spain,  which  country  displays  Austrian 
tendencies,"  etc. 

The  apartment  occupied  by  the  Emperor  on  the  ground 
floor,  between  the  Pavilion  de  l'Horloge  and  the  Pavilion 
de  Flore,  was  found  exactly  in  the  state  in  which  he  had 
left  it.  It  was  full  of  books,  maps,  models,  and  military 
diagrams.  It  contained  also  a  large  number  of  political 
papers  and  much  private  correspondence.  This  corre- 
spondence was  seized,  together  with  all  the  letters  and 
despatches  addressed  to  the  Regent.  And  so  were  the 
books  containing  the  accounts  kept  of  the  expenses  of  the 
palace  housekeeping.  A  selection  from  these  papers  was 
subsequently  published  by  the  Government ;  *  greatly  to 
the  disappointment,  however,  of  that  portion  of  the  public 
who  had  hoped  to  find  in  the  correspondence  of  the  Im- 
perial family  material  for  scandal.  For  it  only  served  to 
prove  how  well  the  Emperor  loved  his  country;  that  few 
sovereigns  have  ever  taken  so  deep  a  personal  interest  in 


*  Under  the  title  of  "  Papiers  et  Correspondance  de  la  Famille  Im- 
p£riale."- 


DEPARTURE    OF    THE    EMPRESS        267 

the  affairs  of  the  Government,  or  so  carefully  studied  the 
questions  most  immediately  concerning  the  economical 
prosperity  and  general  welfare  of  their  subjects,  or  have 
been  inspired  by  loftier  ideals  or  a  more  noble  ambition ; 
and  that,  true  to  himself,  at  the  last  hour  he  strove  with 
singular  self-abandonment  to  bear  the  burden  of  defeat, 
in  order  to  save  the  army  and  check  the  tide  of  disaster 
that  threatened  to  sweep  over  the  land. 

It  was  much  to  the  credit  of  the  new  Government  that 
the  personal  effects  of  the  Imperial  family  were  not  re- 
tained, but  after  a  few  weeks  were  packed  up,  and  either 
sent  to  England  or  deposited  for  safe-keeping  with  their 
friends  in  Paris. 

But  while  these  events  were  taking  place  without,  the 
scene  within  the  palace  was  no  less  moving  and  exciting. 
After  her  Majesty  had  dismissed  the  Deputation  that  had 
been  sent  to  ask  her  to  transfer  her  power,  she  waited 
to  hear  the  result  of  their  conference  with  General  de 
Palikao,  and  what  action  the  Assembly  would  take  in  order 
to  meet  the  exigencies  of  the  situation.  But  from  moment 
to  moment  the  despatches  received  from  the  Minister  of 
the  Interior,  from  the  War  Department,  and  from  the 
Prefecture  of  Police,  became  more  and  more  ominous.  It 
was  reported  that  the  mob  had  invaded  the  Chamber  of 
Deputies;  that  the  Imperial  arms  were  being  broken  in 
pieces  wherever  seen;  that  cries  of  "  Vive  la  Republique!  ' 
were  to  be  heard  in  the  streets.  Then  a  messenger,  flushed 
with  excitement,  came  to  announce  that  the  eagles  orna- 
menting the  great  gates  fronting  on  the  Place  de  la  Con- 
corde had  been  pulled  down,  and  that  the  rioters  were 
endeavoring  to  force  their  way  into  the  Garden  of  the 
Tuileries.  The  Empress  listened  to  all  these  reports  un- 
moved, and  without  manifesting  the  slightest  fear.  But  the 
persons  near  her  began  to  see  the  meaning  of  these  events, 
and  to  grow  anxious  for  her  Majesty's  safety.    They  there- 


268         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

fore  advised  her  to  leave  the  palace,  and  not  to  expose 
herself  to  the  danger  of  falling  into  the  hands  of  the 
populace. 

To  them  all  she  replied  simply:  "  I  do  not  fear.  How 
can  I  leave?  " 

Finally,  three  of  the  Ministers  arrived  at  the  Tuileries — 
M.  Jerome  David,  M.  Busson-Billault,  and  M.  Henri 
Chevreau.  *  Entering  the  salon,  where  the  Empress  was 
still  standing,  they  reported  to  her  Majesty  that  not  only 
had  the  mob  taken  possession  of  the  Chamber  of  Deputies, 
but  that  Deputies  presumed  to  be  loyal  to  the  Imperial 
Government  were  going  over  to  the  Revolution,  and  that 
Paris  was  in  the  hands  of  the  populace.  It  was  the  opinion 
of  these  gentlemen — and  their  official  position  gave  great 
weight  to  their  opinion — that  the  Empress  should  leave  the 
palace  immediately.  They  told  her  very  plainly  that  she 
could  no  longer  remain  where  she  was,  in  safety.  But  she 
was  undaunted  by  this  account  of  the  on-rush  of  the  Revo- 
lution and  the  apprehensions  of  personal  peril  displayed, 
and  was  neither  moved  nor  made  afraid.  She  objected 
most  decidedly  to  leaving,  and  with  great  spirit  and  feeling 
replied :  ' '  Here  I  have  been  placed  by  the  Emperor,  and 
here  I  will  stay.     To  abandon  my  post  will  weaken  the 


*  In  a  letter  written  at  Chislehurst,  in  November,  1870,  the  Empress 
writes:  "As  for  the  4th  of  September,  I  will  only  say  that  General 
Trochu  abandoned  me,  if  nothing  worse;  he  was  not  seen  at  the  Tuile- 
ries after  the  invasion  of  the  Chamber,  nor  were  the  Ministers,  with  the 
exception  of  three  who  insisted  on  my  departure,  and  I  did  not  wish  to 
go  until  the  Tuileries  were  invaded.  Light  will  be  thrown  on  these 
matters  some  day,  as  upon  a  good  many  things  besides." 

M.  Jules  Brame,  in  his  testimony  before  the  Parliamentary  Com- 
mission, tells  what  the  Ministry  were  doing  at  this  time.  "I,"  says  M. 
Brame,  "was  with  the  Minister  of  War  to  the  very  end;  three  of  my 
colleagues  were  out-of-doors  striving  to  stimulate  the  military  chiefs 
and  questors  to  make  an  effort  to  protect  the  Assembly;  and  three 
others  went  at  once  to  the  Tuileries  to  see  if  they  could  not  save  the 
Empress,  who  would  have  been  strangled  had  they  not  warned  her  in 
time." 


DEPARTURE    OF    THE    EMPRESS        269 

power  to  resist  the  invasion.  Unless  there  is  some  recog- 
nized authority,  the  disorganization  will  be  complete,  and 
France  at  the  mercy  of  M.  Bismarck." 

It  was  now  nearly  three  o'clock,  and  the  mob,  crying 
"  Aux  Tuileries!  Aux  Tuileries!  "  were  approaching  the 
reserved  garden.  Their  cries  could  be  heard  even  by 
the  Empress  and  the  persons  with  whom  she  was  talking. 
It  was  at  this  moment  that  Prince  de  Metternich,  the  Aus- 
trian Ambassador,  and  Signor  Nigra,  the  Italian  Ambassa- 
dor, entered  the  antechamber  and  requested  to  be  admitted 
into  the  presence  of  her  Majesty. 

'  She  is  in  great  danger,"  they  said.  "  The  mob  that 
has  taken  possession  of  the  Palais-Bourbon  is  now  prepar- 
ing to  attack  the  Tuileries.  She  must  be  informed  of  this, 
and  that  resistance  is  impossible.  She  cannot  stay  here 
any  longer,  except  at  the  risk  of  her  life,  and  we  wish 
to  offer  her  our  protection." 

They  were  very  soon  introduced  into  her  Majesty's 
private  cabinet,  where  she  was  then  debating  with  those 
near  her  the  expediency  of  leaving  the  palace.  The  two 
diplomats  had  considerable  difficulty  in  persuading  the  Em- 
press that  the  time  for  her  to  retire  had  come.  M.  de 
Metternich  was  excited,  insistent,  and  abrupt  even;  and 
Signor  Nigra  no  less  insistent,  but  as  calm  and  polished 
in  his  manner  of  address  as  when  reciting  Italian  poetry 
to  her  Majesty  at  Compiegne. 

After  hearing  what  they  had  to  say,  her  Majesty  ex- 
pressed a  desire  to  consult  with  M.  Pietri,  the  Prefect  of 
Police,  who  was  then  at  his  post  in  the  Prefecture,  where 
he  had  been  all  the  morning,  reporting  to  the  Tuileries  every 
few  minutes  the  situation,  so  far  as  it  was  indicated  by 
disturbances  of  public  order  in  the  streets.  He  was  ac- 
cordingly sent  for.  On  arriving,  he  found  the  Empress 
still  earnestlj'-  discussing  with  those  about  her  the  expedi- 
ency of  her  leaving  the  Tuileries.     Turning  to  M.  Pietri 

the  moment  she  saw  him,  she  asked  him  what  he  thought 
19 


270         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

of  it.  He  replied  by  telling  her  what  he  himself  had  seen 
while  coming  from  the  Prefecture — that  the  mob  were  then 
pushing  against  the  gates  of  the  palace.  He  said  that 
within  ten  or  fifteen  minutes  they  would  probably  force 
their  way  into  the  building;  that  it  was  impossible  to  say 
what  they  would  do,  or  what  crime  they  might  not  com- 
mit, should  an  entrance  be  effected.  In  a  word,  corrobo- 
rating all  that  had  been  said  by  the  others  who  were  then 
urging  her  Majesty  to  go,  he  told  her  that  she  could  not 
remain  without  putting  in  peril  not  only  her  own  life,  but 
the  lives  of  some  of  her  most  intimate  friends,  as  well 
as  the  lives  of  all  the  persons  connected  with  the  service  of 
the  palace,  and  who  were  there  at  their  posts  to  aid  and 
protect  her. 

To  risk  her  own  life  was  to  the  Empress  nothing;  but 
when  she  came  to  see  that,  by  remaining,  she  might  be 
putting  in  jeopardy  the  lives  of  many  others,  some  of  whom 
were  very  dear  to  her,  she  could  no  longer  refuse  to  go. 
And  yet  she  delayed,  to  bid  adieu  to  her  friends,  la  Vicom- 
tesse  Aguado,  la  Marechale  Canrobert,  la  Marechale  Pelis- 
sier,  Mesdames  de  Rayneval,  de  la  Poeze,  de  la  Bedoliere, 
de  Sancy,  de  Saulcy,  la  Baronne  de  Bourgoing,  and  others, 
who  gathered  about  her  with  hearts  too  full  of  emotion 
to  find  words  to  express  their  love  and  sympathy.  To  one 
of  these  ladies,  who  signified  a  desire  to  go  with  her,  the 
Empress  said: 

"  I  fully  appreciate  your  generous  devotion  to  me,  but 
I  do  not  wish  my  misfortunes  to  be  yours  also.  In  France 
no  one  should  be  unhappy. ' ' 

Then  followed  a  clasping  of  hands,  tears,  sobs,  a  parting 
kiss,  and  yet  the  Empress  lingered  to  say: 

"  I  shall  never  forget  what  you  all  have  been  to  me. 
I  thank  you.  Good-by — Good — "  And  Signor  Nigra  in- 
terrupts this  scene  so  full  of  tenderness  and  affection,  by 
saying, 

"  Madame,  M.  de  Metternich  and  I  are  waiting  for  you. 


DEPARTURE    OF    THE    EMPRESS        271 

You  must  hurry.  In  a  few  minutes  escape  may  be  im- 
possible ";  at  the  same  time  handing  her  a  hat  and  veil 
that  Madame  Lebreton  was  holding,  and  assisting  her  to 
put  on  a  light  cloak — for  there  was  no  time  now  to  prepare 
for  a  journey.  She  must  leave  the  palace  at  once,  and  as 
she  was. 

With  an  effort,  the  Empress  separated  herself  from  her 
friends,  looking  back  as  she  went,  to  give  them,  smiling 
through  her  tears,  a  last  expression  of  her  affectionate 
regard. 

She  was  now  with  the  Prince  de  Metternich,  Signor 
Nigra,  Admiral  Jurien  de  la  Graviere,  of  her  personal 
service,  M.  Conti,  the  Chief  of  the  Emperor's  Cabinet,  Lieu- 
tenant Conneau,  an  orderly  officer,  and  Madame  Lebreton, 
the  sister  of  General  Bourbaki,  her  reader  and  companion. 
And  as  the  little  company  walked  out  of  the  private  cabinet 
of  the  Empress,  about  half  past  three  o'clock  in  the  after- 
noon of  the  4th  of  September,  1870,  the  tri-colored  flag, 
that  floated  over  the  Tuileries  when  the  sovereign  was  resi- 
ding there,  was  lowered,  never  to  be  raised  again.  While 
passing  through  one  of  her  own  rooms,  which  had  been 
furnished  with  elegance  and  a  regard  for  home  comfort 
rather  than  decorative  effect,  and  which  was  full  of  sou- 
venirs of  love  and  friendship  and  devotion,  the  Empress, 
stopping  for  a  moment  and  looking  about  her,  said,  as 
if  she  were  speaking  to  herself  and  could  scarcely  believe 
it  possible,  "  Is  this  the  last  time?  '  And  then  pressing 
forward,  she  herself  led  the  way  down  the  staircase  to 
the  ground  floor  of  the  palace,  with  the  idea,  it  seems,  that 
she  could  take  the  coupe  which  was  generally  stationed  in 
the  court-yard  to  the  right,  near  the  steps  leading  to  the 
apartments  of  the  Prince  Imperial,  and  which,  in  fact, 
was  there,  with  the  coachman  on  his  box,  correctly  dressed, 
looking  neither  to  the  right  nor  to  the  left,  waiting  his 
orders  as  usual.  But  the  Prince  de  Metternich,  noticing 
the   livery,   and   the   crown   painted   on   the  door  of  the 


272         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

carriage,  thought  it  would  be  imprudent  for  the  Empress 
to  make  use  of  it,  and  offered  instead  his  own  carriage, 
which  was  waiting  on  the  quay  near  by.  Lieutenant  Con- 
neau  thereupon  started  off  to  bring  the  Prince's  carriage 
into  the  court,  and  the  Empress,  who  had  been  standing 
for  hours,  sat  down  on  a  bench  in  the  vestibule.  But 
in  a  very  short  time  the  young  officer  came  running  back, 
saying  that  it  was  no  longer  possible  to  pass  out  through 
the  court-yard  of  the  palace;  that  the  Place  du  Carrousel 
was  occupied  by  a  tumultuous  rabble,  who  were  filling 
the  air  with  songs  mingled  with  cries  of  "  A  mort!  "  and 
"  Aux  Tuileries!  "  and  that  a  band  in  advance  of  the  rest 
were  pounding  on  the  railing  that  separated  the  court- 
yard from  the  Place.  Admiral  Jurien  de  la  Graviere  then 
left  the  company  and  went  forward  to  the  gate — which 
the  rioters  were  now  endeavoring  to  force  open — for  the 
purpose  of  parleying  with  them,  and  thus  gaining  time. 
In  this  work  he  was  highly  successful,  as  he  managed  to 
keep  them  out  of  the  court  altogether. 

But  when  he  returned  to  the  vestibule  the  Empress  and 
her  escort  were  not  to  be  found.  Seeing  that  it  would 
be  dangerous,  if  not  impossible,  to  attempt  to  leave  the 
Tuileries  by  any  direct  way,  and  that  there  was  no  time 
to  lose,  they  had  reascended  the  staircase  they  had  just 
come  down,  and,  retracing  their  steps  through  the  apart- 
ments of  the  Empress,  and  entering  the  long  suite  of  rooms 
that  led  by  the  way  of  the  Pavilion  of  Flora  to  the  galleries 
of  the  Louvre,  had  passed  on  through  the  new  Salle  des 
Etats,  not  yet  finished,  and  still  embellished  with  the 
decorations  used  on  the  21st  of  May — the  day  when,  with 
imposing  ceremony,  the  result  of  the  Plebiscitum  was  of- 
ficially announced  to  the  Emperor.  But  on  coming  to 
the  door  that  led  into  the  great  Gallery  of  the  Louvre,  it 
was  found  that  it  could  not  be  opened.  It  was  locked. 
To  the  knocking  on  the  door  there  was  no  response;  but, 
in  the  silence  that  followed,  the  cries  of  the  people  without 


DEPARTURE    OF    THE    EMPRESS        273 

could  be  distinctly  heard.  The  members  of  the  little  com- 
pany began  to  feel  very  anxious.  Was  all  retreat  cut  off? 
What  was  to  be  done?  Before  anything  had  been  decided 
upon,  and  as  the  bewilderment  of  counsel  began  to  suggest 
the  growing  danger  of  the  situation,  M.  Charles  Thelin,  the 
Emperor's  treasurer,  appeared.  Having  heard  that  the 
Empress  had  just  passed  through  the  Pavilion  of  Flora, 
going  towards  the  Louvre,  he  followed  after  her  to  offer 
his  services.  Quite  by  chance,  but  most  luckily,  he  had 
with  him  a  key  that  would  open  all  the  doors  of  the 
building. 

And  so  it  happened,  by  a  strange  freak  of  fortune,  that 
the  doors  which  were  closed  against  the  Empress  Eugenie 
on  the  4th  of  September,  1870,  were  unlocked  by  the  same 
Charles  Thelin  who  opened  the  doors  of  the  prison  at  Ham, 
from  which  Louis  Napoleon  made  his  escape  a  little  over 
twenty-four  years  before,  on  the  25th  of  May,  1846. 

The  way  being  now  free,  the  Empress  and  her  escort 
walked  down  the  "  Long  "  or  "  Great  Gallery  "  of  the 
Museum,  and  through  the  Salle  Carree  into  the  Pavilion  of 
Apollo ;  passing  doAvn  this,  and  turning  to  the  right,  they 
entered  the  "  Jewel  Room,"  and  then  continued  on  to  the 
Salle  des  Sept  Cheminees. 

Here  the  Empress  stopped;  and  having  remarked  that 
the  number  of  persons  accompanying  her  was  so  large 
as  surely  to  attract  attention,  suggested  that  they  all,  ex- 
cept MM.  de  Metternich  and  Nigra,  should  noAv  retire,  and 
leave  her  and  Madame  Lebreton  to  be  conducted  to  a 
place  of  safety  under  the  escort  of  these  two  gentlemen 
alone. 

Thereupon  the  Empress  took  leave  of  the  last  of  her 
palace  followers,  who  had  been  joined  by  several  of  the 
guardians  of  the  Museum,  some  of  whom,  with  tears  in  their 
eyes,  kissed  the  hand  which  she  extended,  and  all  of  whom 
bade  her  good-by  with  emotion.  She  thanked  them  all  for 
the  loyalty  and  the  devotion  they  had  shown  to  her ;  and  so 


274         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

thoughtful  was  she  of  their  safety  also,  that  she  urged 
them  to  be  careful  not  to  expose  themselves  to  the  fury 
of  the  mob,  and  made  Lieutenant  Conneau  promise  to  take 
off  his  rather  showy  uniform  before  going  into  the  street. 

And  then,  as  her  friends  left  her,  and  as  she  herself 
turned  to  go,  looking  up,  she  saw  on  the  wall  before  her 
Gericault's  famous  picture,  "  The  Wreck  of  the  Medusa." 
She  stood  fixed  for  a  few  seconds,  unable  to  remove  her 
eyes  from  it.    ' '  How  strange !  ' '  said  she  to  herself. 

And  to  me,  and  to  others,  she  has  since  often  said, 
"  How  strange  that  this  picture  should  be  the  last  one 
I  should  ever  look  at  in  the  galleries  of  the  Louvre !  ' ' 

But  the  Empress  having  quickly  recovered  from  the 
impression  produced  by  this  picture  of  ill-omen,  the  two 
ladies  walked  on,  under  the  guidance  of  MM.  de  Metter- 
nich  and  Nigra,  through  the  rooms  containing  the  Greek 
antiquities,  and  through  the  Egyptian  Gallery,  until  they 
reached  the  landing  at  the  right  of  the  great  colonnade. 
Then,  descending  the  three  broad  flights  of  stone  steps  that 
lead  to  the  ground  floor  of  the  Egyptian  Museum,  the  little 
company  threaded  its  way  through  the  colossal  and  somber 
antiquities  of  Old  Egypt  there  assembled — the  images  of 
its  gods,  and  the  sarcophagi  and  funeral  monuments  of  its 
dead  kings  and  priests — until  they  reached  the  door  at 
the  extreme  end,  which  opens  upon  the  arched  passage 
leading  from  the  inner  court  of  the  Louvre  to  the  Place 
in  front  of  the  Church  of  Saint-Germain  l'Auxerrois. 

On  coming  to  this  door,  it  was  found  that  a  crowd  of 
noisy  ' '  manif estors  ' '  was  pouring  through  the  passage, 
and  the  two  diplomatists  thought  it  would  be  highly  im- 
prudent to  attempt  then  to  leave  the  building  with  the 
ladies.  So  they  stood  here  and  waited  for  the  crush  to 
spend  its  force.  Standing  in  the  vestibule  of  the  Museum, 
this  demonstration  was  watched  with  deep  concern  through 
the  door  held  ajar;  it  seemed  as  if  it  would  never  end. 
But  the  Empress  was  the  one  least  disturbed. 


DEPARTURE    OF    THE    EMPRESS        275 

Signor  Nigra  has  told  me  that,  while  standing  here, 
observing  the  Empress  seemed  weary,  he  offered  her  his 
arm ;  and  that  soon  after  a  peculiarly  noisy  band  passed 
by,  shouting  A  bas  Badinguet!  "A  has  I'Espagnole!  ' 
"  Vive  la  Republique!  '  Hearing  these  cries,  he  asked  the 
Empress  if  she  was  afraid. 

"  Not  a  bit,"  she  replied.  "  Why  do  you  ask  me? 
You  are  holding  my  arm ;  do  you  feel  me  tremble  ?  ' ' 

By  a  curious  coincidence,  the  same  reply  to  the  same 
question  was  made  by  Louis  XVI.  under  nearly  similar 
circumstances.  When,  on  the  20th  of  June,  1792,  the  Paris 
mob,  invading  the  Tuileries,  entered  the  Royal  apartment 
and  laid  hands  on  the  person  of  the  King,  some  one  cried 
out,  "  Are  you  afraid?  "  And  the  King,  turning  to  the 
man,  said,  "  Put  your  hand  upon  my  heart  and  see  if  I 
tremble." 

Fortunately,  the  equal  courage  and  firmness  of  the  two 
sovereigns  in  the  presence  of  danger  did  not  prove  alike 
disastrous  to  the  two  witnesses.  The  Italian  ambassador 
has  lived  not  only  to  repeat  the  story  many  times,  but  to 
serve  his  country  with  distinction  to  the  present  day;  but 
during  the  Reign  of  Terror,  the  national  guard,  the  poor 
tailor,  Jean  Lalanne,  had  his  head  chopped  off  "  for 
having,"  as  the  judicial  sentence  solemnly  reads,  "  on  the 
20th  of  June,  1792,  shown  that  he  possessed  the  character 
of  a  tyrant's  under-servant,  and,  especially,  in  that  he  has 
seemed  to  take  pleasure,  in  the  presence  of  a  number  of 
citizens,  in  telling  how  Capet  took  his  hand  and,  pressing 
it  to  his  heart,  said,  '  Do  you  feel  it  throb,  my  friend?  '  " 

When,  finally,  the  main  body  of  the  rabble  appeared 
to  have  passed  through  to  the  Place,  the  Empress,  who  was 
tired  of  standing  still,  said,  "  Now  let  us  go." 

"  I  think  we  had  better  wait  a  little  while  longer," 
answered  Signor  Nigra. 

"  No,  no,"  replied  the  Empress,  "  il  favt  de  I'audace!  " 


276         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

and,  saying  this,  she  pulled  the  door  open  and  stepped 
out  on  the  pavement,  followed  by  those  with  her. 

Prince  de  Metternich  at  once  went  forward  to  try  to 
find  a  carriage.  Luckily,  he  soon  found  one,  a  common  one- 
horse  cab,  but  a  closed  one — provided  seemingly  by  Provi- 
dence for  this  special  occasion.  The  Prince  having  come 
back  to  report  that  he  had  found  a  carriage,  the  four  per- 
sons walked  from  the  entrance  of  the  Louvre  towards  the 
street,  the  space  between  the  railings  still  being  filled  with 
people  coming  and  going,  when,  just  as  they  reached  the 
sidewalk,  where  the  cab  had  been  drawn  up,  a  boy  cried 
out,  "  Voila  I'Imperatrice!  "  (Oh,  there's  the  Empress!) 
Signor  Nigra,  hearing  this,  turned  instantly,  and  asking, 
"  What  was  it  you  said?  "  stopped  the  boy  and  talked 
with  him,  to  silence  him.  In  the  meantime  Prince  de  Met- 
ternich had  put  the  Empress  and  Madame  Lebreton  into 
the  cab,  and  Madame  Lebreton,  having  directed  the  driver 

to  go  to  No. Boulevard  Haussmann,  the  residence  of 

M.  Besson,  a  Councilor  of  State,  the  Prince  lifted  his  hat 
and,  bowing  to  the  ladies,  withdrew. 

The  personal  and  political  relations  of  these  two  am- 
bassadors, to  the  Imperial  Court  and  to  each  other,  were 
very  remarkable.  Metternich,  the  son  of  the  famous  states- 
man and  diplomatist,  was  a  reactionary  by  birth  and  educa- 
tion, so  much  so  that  the  Emperor  used  to  say  that  some 
day  he  would  become  a  Capuchin  friar;  and  Nigra,  the 
disciple  of  Azeglio  and  Cavour,  was  a  lover  of  freedom, 
with  his  face  to  the  future.  The  former  was  fond  of  art, 
and  an  excellent  musician;  the  latter  a  lover  of  letters, 
and  a  brilliant  raconteur.  They  were  rivals  for  the  favors 
of  the  palace,  the  closest  of  personal  friends,  and,  generally, 
irreconcilable  adversaries  on  matters  of  European  policy, 
especially  with  respect  to  the  Roman  question,  which  was 
the  burning  question  of  the  time.  For  a  few  months,  just 
before  the  fall  of  the  Empire,  they  worked  in  harmony 
to  effect  an  alliance  between  their  Governments  and  that 


DEPARTURE    OF    THE    EMPRESS        277 

of  France,  and  on  this  day,  impelled  by  a  common  motive, 
they  met  together  at  the  Tuileries  for  the  last  time,  to  assist 
in  her  extremity  the  sovereign  they  each  had  so  long  and 
constantly  admired.  But  while  to  Prince  de  Metternich 
this  departure  was  the  end  of  a  hope  that  Napoleon  III. 
might  help  his  country,  Austria,  to  retrieve  the  defeat  of 
Sadowa,  to  Signor  Nigra  it  was  the  beginning  of  an  assur- 
ance— that  Rome  was  to  be  the  capital  of  Italy. 

While  talking  with  the  boy,  Signor  Nigra  lost  sight  of 
his  companions,  and,  not  being  able  to  rejoin  them,  or  to 
find  the  Prince  de  Metternich,  only  learned  several  days 
later  what  became  of  the  Empress  after  she  disappeared 
in  the  moving  throng  of  people  on  the  Place  Saint-Germain 
1  'Auxerrois. 

Indeed,  she  was  there  but  a  moment,  for  the  cab  turned 
quickly  into  the  Rue  de  Rivoli,  and,  passing  by  the  Louvre 
and  the  Tuileries,  and  on  into  the  Rue  de  la  Paix,  and  across 
the  central  boulevards,  picked  its  way  unnoticed  through 
noisy  bands  of  "  clubbists  "  and  "  manif estors, "  to  the 
quiet  quarter  at  the  back  of  the  Madeleine,  the  Empress 
herself  having  been  an  astonished  witness  of  some  of  the 
most  singular  scenes  of  the  mad  carnival  with  which  the 
populace  of  Paris  celebrated  the  advent  of  the  Third 
Republic. 

On  arriving  at  the  given  address  in  the  Boule- 
vard Haussmann,  the  cab  was  dismissed,  and  the  ladies 
walked  up  the  stairs  to  their  friend's  apartments,  which 
were  on  the  third  or  fourth  floor.  But  on  ringing  the  bell 
there  was  no  reply.  Again  and  again  the  bell  was  rung; 
but  there  was  no  answer.  It  was  now  about  four  o'clock. 
Should  they  wait?  It  would  probably  not  be  long  before 
some  one  of  the  family  returned.  Feeling  fatigued,  the 
Empress  sat  down  on  the  staircase,  and  waited  five,  ten, 
fifteen  minutes.  It  seemed  an  age.  At  length  she  said, 
"  I  cannot  stay  here  any  longer.  Let  us  go."  And 
then  the  two  sadly  disappointed  ladies  slowly  descended 


278         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

the  stairs,  and  began  to  think  very  seriously  about  what 
should  be  done.  They  were  alone;  they  had  no  carriage; 
they  could  not  remain  where  they  were ;  and  so  they  walked 
on  aimlessly,  not  knowing  in  what  direction  they  were 
going,  until  finally  they  saw  a  cab,  an  open  one;  but 
the  streets  were  deserted,  and  there  was  little  danger  of 
their  being  recognized.  The  driver  was  beckoned  to,  and 
stopped.  And  now  the  question,  Where  shall  we  go  ?  must 
be  quickly  answered. 

1 '  Let  us  go, "  said  Madame  Lebreton,  ' '  to  the  American 
Legation,  to  Mr.  Washburne.  The  Revolutionists  will  re- 
spect the  American  flag.    Mr.  Washburne  will  protect  us. ' ' 

"  The  American  Legation — Mr.  Washburne,"  repeated 
the  Empress  interrogatively — and  then  she  thought  of  me. 
"  No,"  said  she,  "  I  will  go  to  Dr.  Evans.  He  is  an 
American  also,  but  he  has  no  political  responsibilities,  and, 
besides,  is  an  old  friend.  I  am  sure  he  will  not  hesitate  to 
render  us  every  assistance  we  may  require." 

And  so  it  came  to  pass  that  the  Empress  and  Madame 
Lebreton  directed  their  cabman  to  drive  them  to  my 
private  residence,  on  the  corner  of  the  Avenue  de  l'lmpera- 
trice  and  the  Avenue  Malakoff,  where  they  arrived  at  about 
five  o'clock.  On  ringing  the  bell,  the  gate  opened;  there 
was  some  one  here,  at  least.  It  proved,  however,  to  be 
only  a  servant;  but  he  told  the  ladies  that  Dr.  Evans, 
for  whom  they  inquired,  although  not  at  home,  was  ex- 
pected to  return  before  long,  and  that  if  they  chose  to  do 
so  they  could  come  in  and  wait  in  the  library  until  he 
came  back. 


CHAPTER    X 

THE   REVOLUTION — THE   EMPRESS   AT    MY    HOUSE 

The  calm  before  the  storm — Paris  in  revolution — The  Champs  Elysees 
— The  Place  de  la  Concorde — The  street  scenes — Some  reflections — • 
How  certain  things  came  to  pass  without  a  hitch — The  funeral  of 
Victor  Noir — A  paradox — Concerning  the  "Republic" — A  race, 
and  the  winners — A  strange  letter — A  mystery  explained — I  return 
to  my  house — Two  ladies  wish  to  see  me — My  interview  with  the 
Empress — An  awkward  situation — Planning  to  escape  from  Paris 
— Questions  to  be  considered — The  plan  finally  agreed  upon — Our 
passports — The  safety  of  the  Empress  left  to  chance — The  Em- 
press no  pessimist — Paris  at  midnight — I  make  a  reconnaissance. 

SHE  sun  rose  bright  on  the  morning  of  September 
4th.  It  was  Sunday,  and  in  the  quarter  of  the 
city  where  I  live — between  the  Arc  de  Tri- 
omphe  and  the  Bois  de  Boulogne — the  stillness 
of  the  early  hours  of  the  day  was  broken  only  by  the  distant 
chime  of  bells,  and  the  singing  of  birds  in  the  private  and 
public  gardens.  No  dread  alarms  would  appear  to  have 
disturbed  the  repose  of  my  neighbors,  and  Nature,  animate 
and  inanimate,  in  the  soft  radiance  of  the  morning  light 
seemed  full  of  joy  and  gentleness,  and  was  invested  with 
a  serene  beauty  that  possessed  the  soul  with  a  delightful 
sense  of  security — a  feeling  which,  when  it  succeeds  quickly 
the  fear  of  some  great,  impending  catastrophe,  as  it  then 
did,  comes  to  us  like  a  benediction  from  Heaven.  How 
could  one  help  yielding  to  the  subtle  influence  of  this  im- 
pression? And  thus  it  happened  that,  scarcely  knowing 
why,  I  began  to  hope  and  to  believe  the  ugly  rumors  of  the 
preceding  evening  were  unfounded,  and  that  some  turn  in 
the  tide  of  fortune  might  soon  restore  the  prestige  of  the 

279 


280         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

armies  of  France,  and  save  the  country  and  the  Govern- 
ment.   But  it  proved  to  be  only  the  calm  before  the  tornado. 

At  nine  o  'clock  I  went  over  to  the  American  Ambulance 
which  was  being  constructed  upon  grounds  belonging  to 
the  Prince  de  Beaufremont,  on  the  corner  of  the  Avenue 
de  l'lmperatrice  and  the  Rue  Villejust.  Here  I  found 
Dr.  Edward  A.  Crane,  it  having  been  agreed  between  us 
that  we  should  spend  the  morning  together  preparing  the 
Ambulance  for  active  service;  since  the  news  from  the 
front,  on  Saturday,  was  of  such  a  kind  as  to  make  us  think 
that  trains  conveying  the  wounded  might  be  expected  to 
arrive  in  Paris  at  almost  any  moment.  As  we  met,  we 
had  in  our  hands  the  morning  papers.  From  them  we 
learned  for  the  first  time  that  the  Government  admitted 
the  French  army  had  been  defeated  at  Sedan.  And  yet 
the  Imperial  Government,  according  to  the  reports  pub- 
lished and  the  comments  of  the  papers,  had  every  appear- 
ance of  standing  firm,  and  of  being  confident  of  its  ability 
to  meet  the  crisis. 

At  the  session  of  the  Chamber  of  Deputies  convened  at 
one  o'clock  on  Sunday  morning,  General  de  Palikao,  the 
Minister  of  "War,  after  having  announced  the  capitulation 
of  Marshal  MacMahon  's  army,  said : 

"  This  cruel  reverse  does  not  shake  our  courage.  Paris 
to-day  is  in  a  condition  for  defense.  The  military  forces 
of  the  country  are  being  organized.  In  a  few  days  a  new 
army  will  be  behind  the  walls  of  Paris;  another  army  is 
forming  on  the  banks  of  the  Loire.  Your  patriotism,  your 
union,  your  energy  will  save  France. ' ' 

Jules  Favre's  order  of  the  day,  presented  immediately 
after  the  Ministerial  declaration,  demanding  that  the  Em- 
peror should  be  deposed,  was  supported  by  no  one ;  on  the 
contrary,  it  was  protested  against  with  violence.  After  a 
sitting  that  lasted  but  half  an  hour,  the  Chamber  adjourned 
to  meet  at  1  p.  m.  on  the  same  day. 

No    revolutionary    manifestations   were    reported,    nor 


THE    REVOLUTION  281 

breaches  of  the  public  peace.  On  the  surface  everything 
was  quiet.  Knowing  that  the  Germans  were  now  marching 
towards  Paris,  it  was  our  opinion  the  people  would  re- 
spond promptly  to  the  appeal  made  by  the  Government, 
and  that  political  differences  and  animosities  would,  for 
the  moment,  be  held  subordinate  to  considerations  affecting 
the  national  honor,  and  interests  in  which  all  Frenchmen 
were  equally  concerned,  and  that  a  vigorous  defense  of 
the  capital  would  be  made.  We  also  presumed  that  the 
Government  had  taken  the  precautionary  measures  neces- 
sary for  dealing  effectively  with  the  agents  of  revolt  and 
revolution,  should  they  attempt  to  begin  their  work. 

These  matters  we  talked  over  at  length.  Whatever 
doubt  we  may  have  had  with  respect  to  the  expediency 
of  establishing  our  Ambulance  in  Paris  was  now  removed. 
Paris  was  surely  to  be  the  scene  of  the  final  acts  of  this 
terrible  Franco-German  drama.  There  was  no  time  to 
be  lost,  and  we  resolved  to  do  our  best  to  have  everything 
in  readiness  to  receive  and  take  care  of  the  wounded  as 
soon  as  there  should  be  a  call  for  our  services. 

At  noon  Dr.  Crane  returned  into  the  city,  it  being 
understood  between  us  that  we  should  meet  again  at  my 
office  in  the  Rue  de  la  Paix  at  four  o'clock,  and,  later, 
take  a  drive  in  the  Bois  de  Boulogne. 

A  little  after  three  o'clock,  having  ordered  my  horses 
to  be  put  to  a  light  American  carriage — wishing  to  drive 
myself — I  started  off  to  keep  my  engagement.  On  the 
way,  in  the  Avenue  de  l'lmperatrice,  and  as  far  down  the 
Champs  Elysees  as  the  Palais  de  l'lndustrie,  I  observed 
nothing  to  indicate  the  existence  of  any  popular  excite- 
ment. The  fountains  were  playing,  and  well-dressed  people 
were  moving  about  in  carriages  or  on  foot,  as  usual.  The 
children,  also,  under  the  trees  on  each  side  of  the  Champs 
Elysees,  were  enjoying  the  day  with  their  nurses,  playing 
on  the  shaded  walks,  riding  on  the  merry-go-rounds  and 
in  the  little  wagons  drawn  by  goats,  or  gathering  together 


£82         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

about  the  Punch-and-Judy  shows,  exactly  as  they  had 
done  on  every  pleasant  Sunday  during  the  summer.  Only 
as  I  approached  the  Place  de  la  Concorde  did  I  begin 
to  see  evidences  that  something  extraordinary  was  taking 
place.  I  noticed  groups  of  people  scattered  about,  some 
near  the  Obelisk,  others  on  the  terrace  of  the  Garden  of 
the  Tuileries,  most  of  whom  seemed  to  be  watching  the 
movements  of  small  bands  of  men  and  boys,  who  were 
marching,  and  shouting  what,  as  I  drew  nearer,  proved  to 
be  "  La  decheance!  "  "  Vive  la  Republique!  "  or  singing 
revolutionary  songs;  and  then  a  detachment  of  the  Garde 
Nationale  came  in  sight  singing  the  "  Marseillaise,"  with 
their  guns  under  their  arms,  reversed — the  butts  upper- 
most— a  sign  that  they  would  not  fire  upon  the  people,  in 
a  word,  had  gone  over  to  the  Revolution.  "When  I  came 
to  the  Place  de  la  Concorde,  I  noticed  that  the  crowd 
on  the  other  side  of  the  Seine  was  dense  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  the  bridge,  and  that  the  approaches  to  the  Palais- 
Bourbon  were  filled  with  a  black,  restless,  swaying,  seething 
mass  that  clung  to  the  main  entrance  of  the  building  like 
a  swarm  of  bees  at  the  mouth  of  a  hive.  Men  and  boys, 
and  women  even,  were  at  the  same  time  hurrying  through 
the  gilded  gates  that,  flanked  by  the  equestrian  symbols 
of  Fame,  open  into  the  Garden  of  the  Tuileries — which 
seemed  to  be  another  center  of  excitement.  Just  what 
was  going  on  there  I  only  learned  afterward — the  "  citi- 
zens "  were  parleying  with  the  officer  in  command  of  the 
guard  stationed  at  the  Tuileries. 

Driving  across  the  Place  de  la  Concorde,  I  entered  the 
Rue  de  Rivoli,  where  I  met  groups,  principally  of  workmen 
from  the  faubourgs,  marching  in  the  middle  of  the  street 
and  singing  the  "  Marseillaise,"  or  dancing  the  "  Car- 
magnole "  under  the  arches;  while  a  still  larger  number 
of  persons  from  the  windows  above,  or  on  the  sidewalk 
opposite — peering  through  the  railings  that  enclose  the 
Garden  of  the  Tuileries — were  watching  in  silent  astonish- 


THE    REVOLUTION  283 

merit  the  riotous  and  fantastic  scenes  that  were  being 
enacted  before  their  eyes. 

Strange  as  it  may  seem,  the  streets  were  not  obstructed ; 
carriages  were  circulating  freely  to  and  fro;  in  fact,  it 
was  about  this  time — perhaps  at  this  very  moment — that 
the  Empress  was  being  driven  in  a  cab  through  the  Rue 
de  Rivoli,  on  her  way  to  my  house.  . 

Turning  into  the  Rue  Castiglione,  I  witnessed  what 
struck  me,  at  the  time,  as  a  most  extraordinary  perform- 
ance— a  man  well  dressed,  and  wearing  a  tall  silk  hat, 
standing  on  a  short  ladder,  with  a  hammer  in  his  hand, 
striking  furiously  at  and  smashing  in  pieces  a  large  shield 
on  which,  and  under  the  Imperial  Arms,  in  letters  of  gold, 
were  the  words,  "  Foumisseur  de  Sa  Majeste,  I'Empe- 
reur  ";  and  as  I  passed  on  into  the  Place  Vendome  and 
the  Rue  de  la  Paix,  I  saw  other  shopkeepers  endeavoring 
in  desperate  haste  to  remove  or  destroy  the  insignia  of 
a  patronage  that,  only  a  few  days  before,  they  were  so 
anxious  to  obtain  or  proud  to  possess. 

Soon  after  I  reached  my  office,  Dr.  Crane  joined  me, 
and  reported  what  he  had  seen  since  leaving  me  at  the 
Ambulance. 

He  said  that  between  twelve  and  half -past  twelve  o'clock 
the  Champs  Elysees  and  the  Place  de  la  Concorde  were  ab- 
solutely deserted,  but  that  this  was  not  remarked  by  him  at 
the  time  as  something  unusual ;  it  was  noon,  the  lunch  hour, 
and  the  sun  was  fiercely  hot — a  sun  of  Austerlitz.  It  was 
about  one  o'clock  when  he  first  noticed  indications  of  the 
approaching  revolutionary  movement.  Then  small  bands 
of  "  manifestors  "  began  to  make  their  appearance,  coming 
from  the  faubourgs — Montmartre,  Saint-Antoine,  du  Tem- 
ple— and  marching  towards  the  Palais-Bourbon,  where  the 
Deputies  were  to  meet.  Some  were  working  men  in  their 
Sunday  clothes,  and  others  the  uncombed  and  unwashed 
ruffians,  in  greasy  blouses  and  black  silk  caps,  who  emerge 
from  the  slums  of  Paris  whenever  public  order  is  threat- 


284         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

ened.  As  the  noise  of  the  shouting  rose  in  the  air,  they 
increased  in  numbers;  and  so  did  the  number  of  the 
spectators  who  followed  behind  them  and  crowded  round 
them,  curious  to  see  what  they  were  going  to  do. 

It  was  nearly  or  quite  three  o'clock  before  the  Garden 
of  the  Tuileries  was  invaded.  Dr.  Crane,  during  the  more 
than  two  hours  he  spent  in  the  Rue  de  Rivoli  or  on  or 
near  the  Place  de  la  Concorde,  witnessed  no  act  of  personal 
violence,  except  in  the  case  of  an  unfortunate  serjent  de 
ville,  whose  sword  was  wrenched  from  him  and  whose 
uniform  was  nearly  torn  in  pieces,  but  who,  offering  not 
the  slightest  resistance,  and  deathly  pale  and  trembling 
with  fear,  was  permitted  to  escape  unhurt.  It  was,  he 
said,  a  good-natured  mob — a  singing  and  a  dancing  mob — 
of  men,  women,  children,  and  dogs,  that  had  assembled 
apparently  to  celebrate  some  great  victory,  rather  than 
engage  in  the  serious  business  of  overthrowing  a  Govern- 
ment. This  work,  they  seemed  to  think  and  to  feel  had 
already  been  done  at  Sedan — thanks  to  the  victorious  and 
glorious  Moltke.  The  police  had  mysteriously  disappeared. 
"  But  where  are  the  troops?  "  asked  the  curious,  quiet 
onlookers.  And  then  came  marching  by,  squads  of  Gardes 
Mobiles  and  of  the  Garde  Nationale,  fraternizing  with 
the  bands  of  demonstrators,  and  carrying  flowers  and 
green  branches,  the  symbols  of  peace,  in  the  muzzles  of 
their  guns,  their  women  marching  with  them  in  the  ranks. 
It  now  became  evident  to  all  the  witnesses  of  these  pro- 
ceedings that  the  mob  was  meeting  with  no  resistance; 
that  the  Army  was  acting  in  concert  with  it;  and  that 
Paris  was  in  the  hands  of  the  Revolutionists.  And, 
quick  as  a  flash,  the  idea  seized  the  flock  of  shopkeepers 
in  the  fashionable  quarters  to  range  themselves  instantly 
on  the  side  of  Power;  to  obliterate  with  savage  violence 
the  evidence  of  their  obligations  to  the  Empire,  and  thus 
manifest  their  gratitude  to  the  new  Government  for  favors 
to  come. 


THE    REVOLUTION  285 

Dr.  Crane  and  I  remained  for  some  time  watching  from 
the  balcony  of  my  office  the  movements  of  the  people  in 
the  street,  and  reflecting  on  the  probable  consequences 
of  the  events  that  we  were  witnessing,  and  which  had  come 
to  pass  with  such  startling  suddenness  as  to  quite  dis- 
concert us. 

The  inconstancy  of  the  French  character  is  so  well 
known,  that  it  did  not  astonish  me  in  the  least  to  hear 
the  people  who  the  day  before  cried  "  Vive  I'Empereur!  " 
now  crying  "  Vive  la  Republique!  "  But  the  irreverence, 
the  apparent  animosity  with  which  all  the  symbols  of 
the  past  were  trampled  upon  and  destroyed,  and  the  lack 
of  courage  displayed  by  those  who  at  heart  detested  the 
opinions  of  the  revolutionists,  surpassed  what  I  believed 
to  be  possible.  It  was  sad  to  see  so  many  new  proofs  of 
the  old  truth,  that  the  populace  cries  to-day,  "  Hosanna!  ' 
and  to-morrow,  ' '  Crucify !  '  And  it  seemed,  indeed,  very 
hard  to  believe  that  the  illustrious  family  whose  history 
was  the  story  of  the  nation's  glory,  before  the  magic  of 
whose  name  a  large  portion  of  the  French  people  had 
bowed  in  admiration,  after  the  first  serious  misfortune 
were  disowned  by  all ;  the  crowd  hastening  to  pay  hom- 
age to  the  new  gods  of  the  day — the  gods  of  the  "  Red 
Republic. ' ' 

And  so  from  the  tricolored  flags  the  red  stripes  were 
cut  out,  and,  having  been  torn  into  small  pieces,  were  fast- 
ened by  the  "  patriots  "  to  sticks  and  umbrellas,  and  waved 
in  the  air  as  a  sign  of  their  adhesion  to  the  "  Red  Repub- 
lic," or,  rather,  to  the  "  Commune."  For  although  this 
latter  species  of  craziness  did  not  develop  until  some  months 
later,  the  sparks  were  smoldering  under  the  ashes,  and  it 
needed  only  a  favorable  wind  to  fan  them  into  flames. 

Yet  there  seemed  to  be  something  extremely  superficial, 
and  puerile  even,  in  these  demonstrations;  and  their  facti- 
tious character  was  so  apparent  that  it  was  difficult  for  us 

to  understand  how  a  revolutionary  movement  could  be  suc- 
20 


286         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

cessful  in  the  presence  of  such  a  lack  of  interest  in  it, 
on  the  part  of  the  majority  of  the  inhabitants  of  Paris, 
as  was  everywhere  manifest.  So  far  as  we  could  judge, 
the  active  forces  of  the  Revolution  consisted  of  only  a 
few  hundred  men  and  boys.  For  a  long  time  they  were 
afraid  to  act ;  they  gradually  grew  bold  through  immunity, 
and,  in  the  end,  were  surprised  at  the  results  of  their  own 
audacity.  Why  these  bands  were  not  quickly  dispersed 
in  a  city  then  under  martial  law,  and  occupied  by  a  strong 
military  force,  was  to  us  at  that  time  incomprehensible. 
Later,  we  learned  how  all  these  things  happened  so  unex- 
pectedly, and  without  any  hitch  in  the  proceedings.  The 
program  en  cas  que  had  been  already  sketched  out  by  the 
chief  conspirators. 

It  may  be  observed  here  that  as,  during  the  last  two 
or  three  years  of  the  Imperial  regime,  the  Government 
became  less  personal  and  more  liberal  and  democratic,  the 
small  band  of  irreconcilable  opponents  of  the  dynasty  be- 
came more  defiant  and  violent  in  their  denunciation  of  the 
Government  and  all  its  acts.  Every  incident  that  could  be 
made  a  pretext  for  a  hostile  manifestation  was  seized  upon. 
Scurrilous  journals,  like  the  Lanterne,  the  Rappel,  and  the 
Marseillaise,  were  founded,  and  flourished  also  by  reason 
of  the  very  audacity  of  the  personalities  they  ventured  to 
publish,  and  the  abominable  insults  they  hurled  at  the 
Emperor,  his  family,  and  his  Government.  As  more  and 
more  liberty  of  speech  was  permitted,  in  1869-70,  more 
and  more  inflammatory  and  intolerable  became  the  utter- 
ances of  this  band  of  energumenes,  among  whom  M.  Henri 
Rochefort  was  facile  princeps. 

The  Emperor  proposed  to  give  to  France  a  constitu- 
tional Government.  The  Radicals  demanded  the  Republic 
of  1848.  At  public  meetings  Revolution  was  openly  advo- 
cated. Now  it  was  that  the  names  of  Delescluze,  Felix 
Pyat,  Blanqui,  Amoroux,  Protot,  Megy,  Flourens,  Pascal 
Grousset,  and  others,  began  to  make  their  appearance  in 


THE    REVOLUTION  287 

the  newspapers.  It  was  the  Etat  Major  of  the  Commune 
of  1871.  Grave  disturbances  of  public  order  soon  became 
frequent,  and  early  in  the  year  1870  suddenly  assumed 
formidable  proportions. 

I  shall  never  forget  the  surprise  occasioned  in  Paris 
by  the  immense  gathering  of  people  at  the  funeral  of  Victor 
Noir,  that  took  place  on  the  12th  of  January. 

Noir,  having  gone  to  the  house  of  Prince  Pierre  Bona- 
parte and  becoming  engaged  in  a  violent  altercation,  was 
shot  and  killed  by  the  Prince.  This  unfortunate  occur- 
rence was  instantly  seized  upon  by  the  revolutionary  group 
as  offering  a  most  opportune  subject  for  a  popular  mani- 
festation against  the  Imperial  dynasty.  Elaborate  prepara- 
tions were  made  for  a  spectacular  funeral.  The  Imperial 
family  were  subjected  in  the  Radical  press  to  a  storm  of 
insults.  '  For  eighteen  years, ' '  said  Rochefort,  in  the  col- 
umns of  the  Marseillaise,  "  France  has  been  in  the  blood- 
stained hands  of  these  cutthroats.  Frenchmen,  can  it  be 
that  you  do  not  think  you  have  had  enough  of  them  ?  ' 

As  the  hour  of  the  funeral  approached,  in  spite  of  the 
rain,  more  than  a  hundred  thousand  persons  assembled 
along  the  route  that  the  procession  was  to  take.  Seditious 
cries  of  "  Vive  la  Republique!  "  "  Mort  an  Bonaparte!  " 
were  heard  on  every  side.  As  soon  as  the  procession  began 
to  move,  the  horses  were  taken  from  the  hearse,  which 
was  then  drawn  by  working  men,  while  behind  it  Noir's 
brother,  the  principal  mourner,  was  carried  on  the  shoul- 
ders of  the  agitators.  It  was  no  longer  a  funeral:  it  was 
a  triumph.  In  the  cemetery,  at  Neuilly,  speeches  were 
pronounced  over  the  body  of  Noir,  calling  upon  the  people 
to  avenge  his  death  and  to  overthrow  the  Government. 
On  returning  to  Paris,  at  the  gates  of  the  city,  past  the 
Arch  of  Triumph,  and  down  the  Champs  Elysees,  the 
demonstrations  assumed  so  violent  and  threatening  a  char- 
acter, as  for  a  moment — before  the  arrival  of  a  regiment 
of  cavalry — to  frighten  even  the  leaders. 


288         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

This  revolutionary  manifestation  of  the  12th  of  Janu- 
ary, 1870,  was  a  revelation  to  the  world,  and,  although 
generally  regarded  at  the  time  as  simply  an  exhibition 
of  the  insatiable  curiosity  of  the  Parisians,  left  a  pro- 
found and  painful  impression  upon  the  minds  of  all  the 
friends  of  the  Imperial  family. 

But  all  this  was  forgotten  when,  in  July,  the  Govern- 
ment was  dealing  with  a  question  that  seemed  to  be  of 
far  more  serious  import  to  the  nation,  if  not  to  the  dynasty, 
than  the  sayings  and  doings  of  certain  political  malcontents. 
And,  after  hostilities  had  actually  begun,  very  few  persons, 
carried  away  themselves  by  the  immense  wave  of  patriotic 
sentiment  which  swept  over  the  land,  suspected  that  there 
were  Frenchmen  who  were  then  watching  events  in  the 
hope  that  some  great  disaster  might  overwhelm  the  armies 
of  France. 

Just  after  the  declaration  of  war,  a  well-known  Radical 
Deputy  met  in  the  Garden  of  the  Tuileries  M.  Roche,  a 
member  of  the  Council  of  State.  The  conversation  turning 
to  the  events  of  the  day,  this  patriot,  shaking  his  fist  at 
the  palace,  cried  out,  "  The  creature  that  lives  there  has 
had  such  wonderful  luck  that  he  is  capable  of  beating 
the  Prussians;  and  then  we  should  be — in  the  soup!  ' 

And  there  were  others  like  him,  as  there  are,  unfor- 
tunately, in  all  countries — men  who  acknowledge  no  sov- 
ereign authority,  and  recognize  no  patriotism  but  their 
own  fanaticism. 

And  yet,  paradoxical  as  it  may  seem,  the  insurrec- 
tionary movement  in  the  streets  of  Paris,  on  the  4th  of 
September,  was  not  a  manifestation  of  hostility  against 
the  Empire  and  the  Napoleonic  dynasty;  it  was  in  reality 
simply  a  rising  to  the  surface  of  the  social  sediment  of 
the  city,  after  the  shock  of  a  national  defeat,  and  at  the 
same  time  a  protest  of  the  proletariat  against  every  form 
of  orderly  government.  The  rioters  were  the  men,  or  the 
descendants  of  the  men,  who  in  1848  erected  the  barricades 


THE    REVOLUTION  289 

in  the  boulevards  of  the  capital,  reenforced  by  the  teachings 
of  German  socialists  or  Russian  anarchists,  and  organized 
under  the  direction  of  the  Societe  Internationale  des 
Travailleurs.  They  were  that  "  democracy  of  our  day, 
full  of  peril,"  of  which  M.  Guizot  spoke  in  1861,  in  his 
famous  address  before  the  French  Academy,  on  the  oc- 
casion of  the  reception  of  Lacordaire  succeeding  to  the 
chair  of  Tocqueville,  when  he  said :  "  It  thinks  it  is  society 
itself,  and  all  there  is  of  it.  It  wishes  to  dominate  alone. 
And  it  has  no  respect  for,  and,  I  may  say,  refuses  to  recog- 
nize the  existence  of,  any  rights  except  its  own. ' ' 

They  appeared  in  force  at  the  funeral  of  Victor  Noir, 
and  they  filled  the  ballot-boxes  with  their  votes  on  the  8th 
of  May,  1870.  While  7,358,786  votes  were  then  cast  by 
the  French  electors  in  favor  of  the  Empire,  and  but 
1,571,939  votes  were  cast  against  it,  the  Government  ob- 
tained in  Paris  but  138,000  votes,  while  184,000  votes  were 
cast  against  it.  And  Lyons,  Marseilles,  and  other  large 
cities  gave  at  this  plcbiscitum  similar  majorities  against 
the  Government.  But  there  is  no  occasion  to  attribute 
to  these  votes  a  political  significance  they  do  not  possess. 
They  were  cast  by  men  who  are  the  products  of  the  social 
conditions  of  our  time,  who  thrive  and  multiply  in  the 
centers  of  industrialism,  and  who  often  become  threatening, 
and  are  always  to  be  taken  seriously  into  account  wherever 
universal  suffrage  obtains.  They  have  no  respect  for  the 
individual  or  his  liberty,  and  are  without  patriotism,  boast- 
ing that  the  world  is  their  country.  They  would  seem  to 
have  no  special  preference  for  any  form  of  government, 
except  it  be  that  of  a  despotic  oligarchy,  but  to  be  sys- 
tematically opposed  to,  and  determined  to  upset,  when 
possible,  the  one  that  happens  to  be  in  power.  In  1885 
they  came  to  the  conclusion  that  they  could  do  this,  and 
destroy  the  Third  Republic,  and  so  they  set  up  the  cry 
of  "  C'cst  Bou — e'est  Bon — e'est  Boulanger  qu'il  nous 
faxit."     They  were  not  disturbed  in  the  least  by  the  pos- 


290         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

sible  consequences  of  their  success,  and  hailed  even  with 
delight,  the  monarchical  prospects  which  the  electoral  cam- 
paign of  that  year  opened  to  their  view.  They  failed  then 
to  accomplish  their  purpose,  but  they  triumphed  in  the 
cities,  as  they  had  in  1870. 

And  to-day  they  cast  the  majority  of  the  votes  in  Paris 
and  in  the  principal  cities  of  France,  and  fill  the  municipal 
offices  with  men  hostile  to  the  parliamentary  Republic.  In 
fact,  the  state  of  affairs  in  these,  cities  would  be  very 
serious  indeed,  were  it  not  that  the  national  Government 
exercises  its  right  of  sovereignty  and  the  right  of  veto 
whenever  it  thinks  proper,  in  every  matter  of  municipal 
administration;  and  its  power  to  enforce  its  will  is  pro- 
vided for  by  the  maintenance  of  a  strong  garrison  or 
army  corps  in  the  immediate  neighborhood  of  each  of 
the  large  cities.  The  control  of  the  central  Government 
over  municipal  affairs  in  Paris  and  elsewhere,  in  the 
present  year,  1896,  is  as  direct,  as  absolute  and  Cesarean, 
as  it  was  in  1866,  with  this  difference  only,  that  the 
Government  was  then  called  "  the  Empire,"  and  is  now 
called  "  the  Republic  " — a  dissimilarity  which  our  late 
eminent  Secretary  of  State,  Mr.  William  H.  Seward,  the 
last  time  he  was  in  Paris  (in  1871),  told  me  was  the 
only  one  he  had  been  able  to  detect  between  the  Government 
then  in  power  and  the  one  that  had  preceded  it.  And 
the  difference  between  the  Governments  in  France  in  their 
dealings  with  the  liberties  of  the  people  will  continue  to 
be  one  only  of  names  and  labels,  so  long  as  a  centralized 
bureaucracy  is  considered  by  every  party  when  in  power 
not  only  as  essential  to  its  own  existence,  but  as  necessary 
for  the  preservation  of  public  order. 

But  so  long  as  any  kind  of  government,  from  an  autoc- 
racy to  anarchy,  may  be  called  "  the  Republic,"  and  so 
long  as  the  form  of  "  the  Republic  "  is  not  so  definitely 
fixed  that  the  most  ultra  Radicals  may  not  hope  to  be 
able  finally  to  shape  it  as  they  wish,  there  is  no  reason  why 


THE    REVOLUTION  291 

the  French  proletariat  should  manifest  its  hatred  of  the 
social  system  represented  by  the  present  French  Parlia- 
mentary Republic  in  any  other  way  than  by  upsetting 
the  Administration,  and  forcing  the  Executive  to  form  a 
new  Ministry,  whenever  it  is  in  the  humor  to  do  so ;  which 
during  the  past  twenty  years  has  been  on  the  average 
once  in  six  months. 

Were  the  Paris  electorate,  however,  called  upon  to  vote 
now,  as  in  1870,  on  the  simple  issue,  "  for  "  or  "  against  " 
the  existing  Government,  I  am  confident  that  the  present 
Parliamentary  Republic  would  obtain  even  a  smaller  vote 
than  did  the  Empire  in  1870.  To  infer,  therefore,  from 
the  presence  in  the  streets,  on  the  4th  of  September,  of 
an  overflow  from  the  slums  of  the  city,  that  these  "  mani- 
festos "  and  "  roughs  "  had  assembled  to  express  their 
opinion  as  to  the  merits  of  dynasties  or  republics,  is  absurd. 
They  were  there  because  they  had  been  summoned  by  their 
leaders  to  be  there — to  smash  things.  And  they  did  the 
work  they  were  expected  to  do.  "I  myself,"  said  General 
Le  Flo,  a  man  whose  republicanism  was  above  suspicion, 
"  was  a  witness  of  the  invasion  of  the  Chamber  by  that 
horde  of  scoundrels  who  appeared  again  in  the  Commune." 
But  Favre,  and  Gambetta,  and  the  Deputies  of  Paris  got 
the  fruit,  because  they  were  prepared  to  gather  it  the 
instant  it  fell. 

Before  the  end  of  August,  a  program  having  regard 
to  the  formation  of  a  government  had  been  prepared  by 
Ledru  Rollin,  Gambetta,  and  others.  This  was  to  be  acted 
upon  immediately  the  success  of  a  revolutionary  movement 
could  be  clearly  foreseen.  The  Republic  was  to  be  pro- 
claimed, but  under  the  tricolored  flag  of  France,  not  under 
the  "  red  "  flag  of  the  socialist  democracy.  And  so,  when 
the  Chamber  of  Deputies  was  invaded  and  the  decheance 
was  proclaimed,  and  the  flag  that  had  floated  over  the 
Tuileries  was  hauled  down,  there  was  a  rush  for  the  Hotel 
de  Ville;  and  it  was  a  race  between  Favre,   Gambetta, 


292         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

de  Keratry,  and  a  number  of  the  Paris  Deputies,  on  the 
one  side,  and  Delescluze,  Milliere,  and  the  representatives 
of  the  Internationale,  on  the  other,  which  should  get  there 
first.  Fortunately,  the  Paris  Deputies  won.  And  when 
Delescluze  and  the  "  clubbists  "  arrived,  they  found  that 
the  building  was  already  occupied  by  the  Government  of 
the  National  Defense.  The  leaders  of  the  mob  were  com- 
pelled to  accept  the  accomplished  fact,  but  they  were 
furious  in  their  disappointment,  and  violent  in  their  de- 
nunciation of  the  "  bourgeois  assermentes  du  Corps  legis- 
latif.''''  And  the  "  Societes  des  travailleurs  "  discovered, 
shortly  afterward,  that  they  had  been  the  tools  of  the 
lawyers  and  the  clever  political  conspirators  by  whom, 
with  the  complaisant  cooperation  of  General  Trochu,  the 
Republic  had  been  adroitly  escamotee  (filched),  to  use  the 
picturesque  language  of  the  day.     (See  Appendix  VIII.) 

I  trust  that  in  these  few  paragraphs  I  have  so  far 
cleared  up  a  small  but  important  part  of  the  field  of  French 
politics,  that  the  reader  will  have  no  great  difficulty  in 
seeing  why  and  how,  on  the  4th  of  September,  things  came 
to  pass  as  they  did,  easily  and  smoothly,  and  how  the 
"  Third  Republic  "  came  into  existence,  as  it  were,  by  a 
process  of  natural  evolution. 

The  clamor  of  the  Radicals  in  the  Chamber  of  Deputies, 
when  the  first  unfavorable  news  arrived  from  the  frontier, 
demanding  that  the  National  Guard  should  be  called  out, 
had  the  appearance  of  being  an  appeal  to  the  patriotic 
sentiment  of  the  nation.  In  fact,  its  purpose  was  to  arm 
the  mob,  that  they  might  be  able  to  take  advantage  of 
any  opportunity  to  upset  the  Government  which  chance 
should  offer. 

Not  satisfied  with  calling  out  the  National  Guard,  Jules 
Favre  proposed  that  in  each  ward  of  the  city  of  Paris 
a  gun  should  immediately  be  put  in  the  hands  of  every 
citizen  whose  name  was  inscribed  on  the  electoral  list ;  and 
thhiy-three  Deputies  were  ready  to  vote  for  this  extraor- 


THE    REVOLUTION  293 

dinary  proposition — that  is  to  say,  to  arm  the  mob  at 
once.  Could  any  act  have  more  clearly  revealed  their 
purpose  ? 

And  now  the  opportunity  looked  for,  hoped  for,  had 
arrived.  The  day  before,  the  Governor  of  Paris  had  been 
approached.  It  was  understood  that  he  would  not  oppose 
a  revolutionary  movement ;  the  way  would  be  made  smooth ; 
every  door  would  be  found  wide  open.  And  so  it  was 
that,  on  Sunday  morning,  the  special  details  of  the  police 
about  the  public  offices  were  dismissed,  and  the  2,500  troops 
of  the  line  who  had  been  guarding  the  Chamber  of  Depu- 
ties were  ordered  away,  and  their  places  taken  by  a  few 
companies  of  the  Garde  Nationale.  National  Guards  also 
were  posted  about  the  Tuileries.  They,  the  "  mc-blots," 
as  they  were  affectionately  called  by  the  populace,  could 
be  trusted  by  the  plotters;  they  would  be  ready  to  cry 
:  Vive  la  Bepublique!  "  when  the  order  was  given.  Just 
as,  six  months  later,  these  Pretorians  of  anarchy  and  mis- 
rule were  ready  to  cry  "  Vive  la  Commune!  "  and  to  re- 
establish the  Reign  of  Terror. 

And  then  was  revealed  the  meaning  of  those  strange 
words  in  the  strange  letter  that  Trochu  addressed,  on  the 
20th  of  August,  to  the  editor  of  the  Temps,  in  reply  to 
an  article  published  in  that  newspaper.  "  The  mistake," 
said  he,  "  of  all  the  Governments  I  have  known,  has  been 
to  consider  force  as  the  ultima  ratio  of  power.  The  idea 
of  preserving  order  with  the  bayonet  and  the  sword  in 
Paris,  when  given  up  to  the  most  legitimate  anguish  and 
the  disturbances  that  are  its  consequences,  fills  me  with 
horror  and  disgust."  In  a  word,  public  notice  was  then 
given  by  the  Military  Governor  that  in  a  certain  eventuality 
— namely,  an  insurrection  breaking  out  in  Paris — he  would 
not  employ  force  to  suppress  it.* 

*  General  Trochu  has  denied  that  he  gave  any  order  for  the  with- 
drawal of  the  troops  posted  at  the  Palais-Bourbon,  and  that  General 
Caussade,  who  had  the  command  of  them,  was  not  under  his  orders. 


294         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

The  Second  Empire  fell,  seemingly,  like  a  house  of  cards 
before  a  puff  of  wind;  but  why  it  so  fell,  and  without 
an  effort  to  save  it,  is  no  longer  a  mystery.  Not  only 
the  Regent  and  her  Ministers,  but  the  representatives  of 
the  people  constituting  the  Legislative  Body,  had  been 
betrayed.  And  that  at  the  very  moment  when,  conscious 
of  the  immense  responsibilities  resting  upon  her,  animated 
by  patriotic  considerations  alone,  and  with  the  noblest  self- 
abnegation,  the  Empress  was  devoting  every  thought  to 
the  one  object  of  checking  the  advance  of  the  German  in- 
vasion, and  protecting  in  the  largest  measure  possible  the 
prestige,  the  honor,  and  the  territorial  integrity  of  France. 
AVhen  the  treachery  was  discovered  it  was  too  late;  the 
armed  force  at  the  capital  had  been  arrayed  against  the 
Government.  It  was  powerless  to  resist;  it  was  forced  to 
retire;  and  for  the  very  same  reason  that  the  Government 
which  usurped  its  place  was  compelled  not  long  after  to 
steal  out  of  Paris  under  cover  of  the  night,  and  without 
striking  a  blow  in  its  own  defense.* 

But  he  was  the  Military  Governor  of  Paris;  and  his  attitude  in  case  of 
a  revolutionary  movement  he  had  revealed  to  M.  de  Keratry,  and 
others  who  called  upon  him  a  few  days  before  the  4th  of  September 
to  sound  him  on  the  subject.    ("  Deposition  de  M.  de  Keratry,"  op.  cit.) 

If  further  evidence  of  his  state  of  mind  is  required,  it  may  be  found 
in  his  own  testimony  before  the  Parliamentary  Commission  ("  Enquete 
Parlementaire,"  tome  i,  p.  313).  He  there  says:  "  I  repeat,  it  is  not 
my  business  to  defend  General  Caussade;  but  you  think  that  the  troops 
would  have  fired  if  he  had  given  the  order.  That  is  your  mistake — 
to  imagine  that  in  the  circumstances  these  troops  would  have  been 
disposed  to  employ  force — -whoever  may  have  affirmed  it.  I  declare 
it  absolutely  contrary  to  the  truth;  you  may  think  so,  it  is  your  right, 
but  you  are  mistaken.  It  was  morally  impossible;  I  have  said  so 
several  times.     My  conviction  on  this  subject  is  of  long  date." 

*  This  account  of  the  proximate  cause  of  the  fall  of  the  Imperial 
Government  will  serve  to  show  the  very  remarkable  way  in  which 
history  repeats  itself — in  France — when  read  in  connection  with  the 
following  paragraph,  which  I  quote  from  the  "Student's  History  of 
France,"  published  by  Harper  &  Brothers  in  1862: 

"  Never  did  a  strong  .  .  .  Government  succumb  .  .  .  from  causes 


THE    EMPEESS  AND   MADAME    LEBEETON    AT   DE.    EVANS'S 

BOUSE. 


THE    EMPRESS    AT    MY    HOUSE         295 

Leaving  the  Rue  de  la  Paix,  we  passed  into  the  boule- 
vards, which  were  full  of  Sunday  promenaders,  quiet  and 
orderly,  only  curious  to  see  everything  and  hear  all  about 
what  was  taking  place.  On  reaching  the  Madeleine,  we 
drove  up  the  Boulevard  Malesherbes,  now  peaceful  and 
silent,  and  through  the  Park  Monceau — beautiful  as  al- 
waj'S,  with  its  fresh  green  lawns  and  bright  parterres  of 
flowers,  and  groups  of  happy  children — and  then  along 
deserted  streets  and  avenues,  until  we  reached  my  house. 
Here,  as  I  had  arranged  to  have  this  evening  a  gentlemen 's 
dinner-party,  I  wished  to  stop  to  give  an  order,  before 
driving  on  to  the  Bois.  It  was  then  about  six  o'clock. 
Handing  the  reins  to  Dr.  Crane,  I  said,  "  I  shall  be  gone 
but  a  few  minutes. ' ' 

On  entering  my  house,  a  servant  said  to  me:  "  There 
are  two  ladies  in  the  library  who  wish  to  see  you.  They 
have  not  given  their  names,  and  decline  to  state  why 
they  have  come  here;  but  they  seem  to  be  very  anxious 
to  see  you,  and  have  been  waiting  for  you  more  than  an 
hour." 

After  giving  my  order,  I  went  to  see  who  these  visitors 
were  that  had  called  upon  me  in  this  rather  singular  and 
mysterious  manner.  When  I  stepped  into  the  room,  and 
found  myself  standing  in  the  presence  of  the  Empress 
Eugenie,  my  astonishment  can  hardly  be  imagined. 

"  Perhaps  you  are  surprised  to  see  me  here,"  said  the 
Empress.  "  You  know  what  has  taken  place  to-day — that 
the  Government  is  in  the  hands  of  the  Revolutionists." 

Then  in  a  few  words  she  told  me  how  she  had  been 
obliged  to  leave  the  Tuileries  suddenly,  without  prepara- 

apparently  more  insufficient.  There  was  no  powerful  party  in  France, 
before  the  outbreak  of  the  22d  of  February,  which  seriously  desired  the 
overthrow  of  the  existing  system;  still  less  was  the  nation  in  general  pre- 
pared to  try  the  desperate  experiment  of  a  second  Republic.  The 
Revolution  of  1848  was  simply  and  literally  the  result  of  a  mischievous 
and  contemptible  trick.".     The  italics  are  textual. 


296         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

tion,  almost  without  warning.  "  And  I  have  come  to 
you, ' '  she  said,  ' '  for  protection  and  assistance,  because 
I  have  full  confidence  in  your  devotion  to  my  family. 
The  service  I  now  ask  in  my  behalf  and  in  that  of  the 
lady  (Madame  Lebreton)  who  is  with  me,  will  be  a  severe 
test  of  your  friendship. ' ' 

I  at  once  assured  her  Majesty  that  I  should  be  only 
too  happy  to  give  her  the  protection  she  sought;  that  I 
held  myself  entirely  at  her  service,  and  would  willingly 
do  anything  in  my  power  which  might  be  necessary  to 
secure  her  personal  safety,  or  to  assist  her  in  any  way. 
She  thanked  me  with  emotion.  And  referring  again  to 
the  events  that  had  just  occurred,  she  contrasted  them  with 
her  surroundings  only  a  few  short  weeks  before. 

"  You  see,"  she  said,  "  I  am  no  longer  fortunate.  The 
evil  days  have  come,  and  I  am  left  alone." 

She  stopped  speaking,  and  tears  filled  her  eyes. 

The  fact  that  the  lady  whom  I  had  known  for  so  many 
years  as  the  illustrious  sovereign  of  France  was  a  fugitive 
under  my  roof;  that  she  who  had  been  surrounded  by 
friends  and  courtiers,  and  all  the  powers  of  the  State, 
now  seemed  to  be  deserted  and  forgotten  by  every  one  in 
her  own  country;  that  she  had  been  forced  to  come  to  a 
foreigner  for  help — these  things  could  not  fail  to  produce 
in  my  mind  a  feeling  of  pain  as  well  as  of  sympathy. 

While  her  Majesty  was  talking  I  had  scarcely  spoken; 
I  was  too  much  absorbed  in  hearing  what  had  happened 
to  her,  why  she  had  come  to  me,  and  what  she  wished 
to  do.  Indeed,  there  was  little  occasion  for  me  to  ask 
questions,  so  directly  and  simply  did  she  say  all  that  was 
necessary  for  me  to  clearly  understand  the  essential  facts 
of  the  case.  Moreover,  I  was  the  privileged  witness  of 
her  sorrow  and  distress.  While  speaking,  she  sat  in  a 
deep  armchair;  and  the  pale  light  from  the  window  by 
her  side  falling  upon  her  still  paler  face,  careworn  and 
sad    but   singularly    beautiful,    I    could    not    help    being 


THE    EMPRESS    AT    MY    HOUSE  297 

profoundly  touched  by  the  pathos  of  the  situation.  And 
if  I  felt  a  certain  pride  in  having  been  chosen  as  the  protec- 
tor of  this  noble  but  unfortunate  lady,  I  knew  that  I  should 
have  still  better  reason  to  feel  proud  and  happy  when  I 
had  justified  the  confidence  she  had  placed  in  me,  by 
my  efforts  to  rescue  her  from  the  danger  that  seemed 
imminent,  and  which  she  certainly  had  cause  to  fear. 

I  now  asked  her  Majesty  if  she  had  any  special  plan 
that  she  desired  to  carry  out. 

She  replied  that  she  wished  to  go  to  England,  if  she 
could,  and  expressed,  in  particular,  a  very  earnest  desire 
to  leave  Paris  as  quickly  as  possible.  She  thought  that 
an  attempt  might  be  made,  when  it  was  discovered  she 
had  left  the  Tuileries,  to  find  out  where  she  had  gone, 
and  that  orders  might  be  issued  by  the  promoters  of  the 
Revolution  to  arrest  her.  She  also  wished  to  get  beyond 
the  reach  of  the  mob;  for  she  was  quite  aware  that  the 
false  and  malicious  representations  respecting  her  personal 
responsibility  for  the  war,  which  had  been  industriously 
circulated  by  the  enemies  of  the  Imperial  Government, 
had  excited  a  bitter  feeling  of  animosity  against  her  among 
certain  classes  of  the  people  only  too  eager  to  seize  an 
opportunity  to  manifest  it  by  some  act  of  vindictive  vio- 
lence. It  was  her  opinion,  therefore,  that  no  time  should 
be  lost ;  that  she  should  proceed  on  the  way  at  once,  without 
stopping  too  long  to  consider  the  direction  to  be  taken  or 
to  fix  upon  a  halting-place.  But  it  was  not  that  she  was 
unduly  alarmed.  In  fact,  she  did  not  appreciate  the  real 
danger  she  was  in.  Morally,  she  was  brave  and  resolute. 
She  had  no  fear  of  any  peril  that  might  be  encountered, 
so  long  as  she  could  feel  that  she  was  doing  something. 
But  to  stop  and  quietly  wait,  doing  nothing,  this  seemed 
to  her  to  be  very  hard  indeed.  It  was  quite  natural  that 
it  should  have  been  so,  and  was  only  a  momentary  matter 
of  nerves.  The  Empress  was,  at  the  time,  weary  and  nearly 
exhausted   by   the   stress    and   strain   of   incessant   work, 


298         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

emotional  excitement,  and  the  fearful  sense  of  responsi- 
bility to  which  she  had  been  subjected  during  the  whole 
period  of  the  Regency.  She  was  also  suffering  greatly 
from  insufficient  sleep  and  the  want  of  food.  In  constant 
receipt  of  important  despatches,  she  had  been  unable  to 
sleep  for  more  than  a  few  minutes  at  a  time  for  over  a 
week,  and  had  scarcely  eaten  anything  in  the  preceding 
twenty-four  hours.  That  under  these  circumstances,  and 
at  a  critical  moment,  she  should  have  appeared  to  be  ill 
at  ease,  and  have  shown  a  little  nervous  impatience  to  start 
off  on  her  journey,  is  certainly  not  surprising. 

I  endeavored  to  reassure  her.  I  told  her  that  as  no 
one  knew  where  she  thought  of  going  when  she  left  the 
Tuileries,  it  was  not  likely  any  one  could  immediately 
discover  where  she  had  gone;  and,  furthermore,  that  I 
was  quite  sure  she  would  not  be  disturbed,  and  was 
perfectly  safe  so  long  as  she  remained  under  my  roof.  I 
urged  upon  her  the  necessity  of  taking  some  refreshment; 
after  which,  I  told  her,  we  should  have  plenty  of  time 
to  consider  what  would  be  the  safest  and  best  course  for 
us  to  follow,  in  order  to  carry  out  her  wishes.  I  then 
begged  her  Majesty  to  excuse  me  for  a  little  while. 

Having  directed  a  servant  to  prepare  a  lunch  for  the 
ladies  in  my  library,  I  ordered  the  gate  to  be  opened  and 
the  carriage  to  be  brought  into  the  yard. 

Dr.  Crane  had  been  patiently  waiting  my  return  for 
a  continuation  of  our  drive,  and  its  abrupt  end  seemed 
to  surprise  him.  But  he  was  still  more  surprised  when 
I  whispered  into  his  ear,  as  he  stepped  out  of  the  carriage, 
The  Empress  is  here!  '  After  a  moment  I  continued: 
:  The  question  is,  what  are  we  to  do?  Come  in,  and  let 
us  talk  this  over.  It  is  now  half  past  six  o'clock.  My 
guests  who  have  been  invited  to  dine  with  me  this  evening 
may  be  expected  to  arrive,  some  of  them,  very  soon.  Shall 
we  dismiss  them  as  they  come,  or  go  on  with  the  dinner? 
The  situation  is  not  only  awkward,  but  difficult." 


THE    EMPRESS    AT    MY    HOUSE  299 

The  conclusion  we  came  to  was  that  Dr.  Crane  should 
receive  the  gentlemen  as  they  arrived,  and  excusing  my  ab- 
sence on  the  ground  that  the  events  of  the  day  had  made 
it  necessary  for  me  to  look  after  certain  private  affairs, 
should  entertain  them  in  my  place;  that  in  the  meantime 
I  would  have  a  good  opportunity  to  confer  with  her  Majesty 
with  respect  to  her  plans  and  wishes ;  that  after  the  dinner 
Dr.  Crane  should  join  in  the  conference,  and  a  final 
decision  then  be  reached. 

Little  did  I  think,  when  I  invited  these  gentlemen  to 
my  house,  that  the  overthrow  of  the  Imperial  Government 
would  prevent  me  from  doing  the  honors  of  the  occasion 
myself.  I  had  expected,  before  we  separated — my  company 
being  mostly  members  of  the  American  Sanitary  Committee 
— to  talk  over  the  questions  which  were  then  especially 
interesting  us,  and  with  respect  to  which  our  decisions 
would  become  important  in  the  event  of  a  siege. 

I  had  hoped,  also,  the  opportunity  was  at  hand  for 
me  to  show  to  France,  and  to  the  reigning  family,  that 
I  was  not  unmindful  of  the  hospitality  which  I  had  received 
from  them  for  many  years  past,  and  that  I  was  now 
ready  to  reciprocate  kindnesses  by  offering  relief  to  those 
who  might  suffer  in  their  behalf  upon  the  field  of  battle. 
Providence  had  seemingly  ordered  it  otherwise :  that  I 
was  to  prove  to  the  world  my  devotion  to  the  Imperial 
family  by  saving  for  the  Emperor  his  wife,  and  for  the 
Imperial  Prince  his  mother;  while  to  France  I  was  to 
repay  my  debt  of  gratitude  by  preventing  the  people  from 
the  possible  committal  of  a  crime  which,  in  a  moment  of 
excitement — forgetting  the  old  traditions  of  French  cour- 
tesy, the  respect  due  to  misfortune,  the  regard  due  to  the 
feeble — they  might  have  been  led  to,  and  which  would  have 
left  an  ineffaceable  stain  upon  the  name  of  the  country. 

And  it  is  a  pleasure  for  me  to  say  here  that  not  only 
the  adherents  of  the  Empire,  but  a  great  many  Monarchists, 
together  with  some  of  the  most  ardent  Republicans,  among 


300         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

whom  I  wish  to  mention  in  particular  the  Count  de  Paris 
and  M.  Gambetta,  expressed  their  gratitude  to  me  afterward 
in  the  warmest  terms  for  having  placed  the  Empress  be- 
yond the  reach  of  the  insults  of  the  Paris  mob. 

Dr.  Crane  and  I  had  scarcely  come  to  an  understanding 
in  the  matter  under  consideration,  when  the  gate-bell  rang 
and  my  guests  began  to  arrive.  I  then  returned  to  the 
ladies  in  the  library.  They  had  had  their  lunch,  and  I 
found  the  Empress  had  wonderfully  revived.  She  talked 
with  animation,  narrating  to  me  some  of  the  incidents 
that  occurred  during  the  last  days  of  the  Regency,  revert- 
ing, however,  constantly  to  the  subject  of  her  immediate 
solicitude — how  she  was  to  get  away  from  Paris. 

It  seems  that,  shortly  before  the  4th  of  September, 
several  of  the  persons  attached  to  the  Court,  officially  or 
otherwise,  being  aware  of  the  gravity  of  the  political 
situation,  became  anxious  about  the  safety  of  her  Majesty, 
and  suggested  to  her  that  preparations  should  be  made 
to  meet  the  very  worst  that  could  happen — a  Revolution 
in  Paris.  But  she  did  not  care  to  listen  to  this  advice,  and 
cut  it  short  by  saying :  ' '  Here  I  have  been  placed  by 
the  Emperor;  here  all  the  interests  of  the  army  and  the 
country  are  centered;  here  it  is  my  duty  to  be.  I  shall 
never  run  away  from  the  Revolution." 

However,  a  number  of  passports  were  prepared,  to 
be  used  in  case  they  were  needed,  and  among  the  countries 
of  refuge,  Belgium  and  England  had  been  named.  But 
no  definite  plan  for  securing  the  safety  of  the  Empress, 
should  she  be  compelled  to  abandon  the  Tuileries,  had 
been  fixed  upon  by  any  one,  when  the  storm  that  swept 
away  the  Government  suddenly  broke  on  the  afternoon 
of  the  4th  of  September.  Indeed,  one  of  the  most  remark- 
able facts  connected  with  the  Empress'  departure  from 
her  palace  is  that  no  officer  of  the  Imperial  Government, 
no  one  of  those  even  who  accompanied  her  and  her  lady 
companion  through  the  galleries  of  the  Louvre  to  the  exit 


THE    EMPRESS    AT    MY    HOUSE         301 

on  the  Place  Saint  Germain  l'Auxerrois,  seems  to  have 
assumed  any  direct  personal  responsibility  for  her  Maj- 
esty's safety.  They,  one  and  all,  whether  present  in  the 
palace  or  absent,  appear  to  have  supposed  that  somebody 
else  had  charged  himself  with  this  delicate  and  perhaps 
dangerous  mission.  Nor  did  the  action  of  Prince  de  Metter- 
nich  and  Signor  Nigra  have  in  view  anything  more  than 
the  removal  of  the  Empress  from  imminent  danger — the 
peril  to  which  she  would  have  been  exposed  had  the  mob 
invaded  the  palace  and  found  her  still  occupying  her 
apartments.  Once  the  street  and  a  carriage  were  reached, 
the  mission  of  these  gentlemen  came  abruptly  to  an  end, 
and  the  Empress,  abandoned  to  the  chances  of  the  day, 
was  left  to  work  out  her  own  salvation  as  best  she  could. 

It  has  often  been  said  that  during  the  last  hours  the 
Empress  spent  in  the  Tuileries  she  was  deserted  by  nearly 
everybody  attached  to  her  person  or  connected  with  the 
service  of  the  palace.  This  is  untrue.  All  her  ladies  of 
honor  who  were  in  Paris  came  to  the  palace  as  usual  on 
the  4th  of  September.  Not  an  officer  attached  to  the 
household  was  missing;  and  the  domestics  continued  to 
perform  their  duties  in  the  most  perfect  order  until  the 
Empress'  departure  was  announced.  Even  then,  the  prin- 
cipal servants  and  the  ushers  did  not  quit  their  posts. 
M.  d'Herisson,  who  went  to  the  Tuileries  about  half  an 
hour  after  the  Empress  had  left  her  apartments,  told  me 
that,  on  reaching  the  first  floor,  he  was  stopped  by  an  usher 
in  full  costume — chocolate  coat,  short  breeches,  black  silk 
stockings,  and  a  silver  chain  around  his  neck — who  asked 
him  what  he  wanted.  To  his  statement,  "  I  have  a  letter 
which  it  is  important  her  Majesty  should  receive  immedi- 
ately," the  answer  was,  "  But  she  has  gone,"  and  M. 
d'Herisson  was  obliged  to  retire.  In  his  "  Journal  d'un 
Officier  d  'Ordonnance, ' '  where  he  seems  to  take  a  malicious 
satisfaction  in  describing  what  he  discovered  in  the  private 

rooms  of  the  Empress,  when  he  visited  them  on  the  following 
21 


302         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

day,  M.  d'Herisson  admits  that  even  then  he  observed  only 
the  evidences  of  a  hurried  departure.  He  says :  ' '  Were  I 
to  affirm  that  there  was  any  great  disorder,  I  should  lie." 

The  simple  truth  is,  that  up  to  the  very  last  moment 
everything  connected  with  the  formal  service  of  the  palace 
went  on  as  usual.  Indeed,  had  it  been  otherwise,  it  would 
have  been  surprising  to  every  one  who  knows  that  there 
were  very  few  persons  in  Paris,  on  the  4th  of  September, 
1870,  who,  before  the  flag  disappeared  from  the  Tuileries, 
had  the  least  suspicion  of  what  was  to  take  place  on  that 
day.  Its  unexpectedness  was  the  characteristic  feature  of 
the  Revolution  of  1870.  And  it  was  this  unexpectedness 
also  which,  while  saving  appearances  for  a  time,  caused 
a  good  many  persons  to  lose  their  heads  the  instant  they 
became  fully  conscious  of  the  peril  of  the  situation. 

In  the  absence  of  any  prearranged  plan,  the  Empress 
was  at  a  loss  to  know  what  should  be  done  in  order  to 
accomplish  her  present  purpose — which  was  to  go  to 
England.  At  first  she  suggested  that,  at  about  ten  o'clock 
that  evening,  I  should  take  her  in  my  carriage  as  far 
as  Poissy,  some  fifteen  miles  from  Paris;  saying  that  we 
might  there  meet  a  night  train  which  would  leave  the  Saint 
Lazare  station  at  a  quarter  before  one  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing, and  would  reach  Poissy  at  half  past  one  o'clock,  and 
arrive  in  Havre  a  little  before  eight  o'clock;  she  added  that 
we  could  stop  in  Havre  the  next  day  (Monday),  and  take 
the  boat  which  would  leave  for  Southampton  in  the  evening. 

The  objections  to  our  adopting  this  course  were  pointed 
out,  and  other  suggestions  were  offered  and  considered. 
Several  points  were  made  pretty  clear:  all  public  convey- 
ances were  to  be  avoided  if  we  wished  to  escape  the  danger 
of  recognition;  ten  o'clock  in  the  evening  was  a  bad  hour 
at  which  to  begin  a  journey  in  a  carriage  without  a  definite 
stopping-place  in  view;  we  were  quite  safe  where  we  were 
till  morning.  It  also  occurred  to  me  that  it  might  be  well 
for  her  Majesty  to  remain  in  Paris  at  least  long  enough 


THE    EMPRESS    AT    MY    HOUSE  303 

to  ascertain  if  the  revolutionists  were  in  full  possession 
of  the  city ;  because,  from  what  I  myself  had  seen,  it  was 
almost  impossible  for  me  to  believe  that  the  Imperial 
Government  had  really  been  overthrown.  The  questions 
to  be  considered  were  too  important  to  be  decided  hastily; 
and,  moreover,  it  was  evident  that  her  Majesty  was  never 
more  in  need  of  a  few  hours'  rest  than  now.  However, 
I  told  her  that  I  would  have  my  horses  ready  to  leave  soon 
after  ten  o'clock,  if  it  was  thought  best,  all  things  con- 
sidered, that  we  should  start  off  at  that  time.  I  then 
begged  to  be  excused  again,  and  occupied  myself  in  making 
arrangements  for  the  journey,  and  for  a  possible  absence 
from  Paris  for  an  indeterminate  time. 

About  half  past  nine  o'clock  a  servant  announced  to 
me  that  the  dinner  had  been  served  and  that  my  guests 
were  leaving.  Soon  after,  Dr.  Crane  joined  me,  and  the 
question  of  the  ways  and  means  of  enabling  the  Empress 
to  make  her  escape  from  France  with  the  least  risk  was 
very  carefully  reconsidered.  So  many  persons  had  been 
led  to  believe  that  she  was  the  principal  instigator  of  the 
war,  and  that  the  Empress  had  recklessly  sacrificed  the 
French  nation  in  an  attempt  to  consolidate  the  Imperial 
dynasty,  so  violent  had  been  the  expressions  of  hostile 
feelings  towards  her  in  certain  quarters,  that  we  were 
quite  of  her  own  opinion  that,  if  seen  and  recognized, 
she  might  be  the  object  of  a  personal  attack,  or  might 
be  arrested  by  some  individual  without  authority,  but 
ambitious  to  signalize  in  a  dramatic  way  his  zeal  for  the 
Revolution. 

How  absurd  these  accusations  were,  will  be  evident  to 
all  who  have  read  the  preceding  chapters  of  this  book; 
but  at  the  time  most  Frenchmen  were  unwilling  to  recog- 
nize the  truth.  Rulers,  when  they  are  unfortunate  and 
are  crushed  by  the  hand  of  fate,  find  few  defenders,  and 
whatever  may  be  said  against  them  is  generally  believed, 
for  people  are  afraid  to  offend  those  who  are  in  power; 


304         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

and  at  the  downfall  of  the  Empire,  the  power  passed  into 
the  hands  of  men  who  had  no  respect  for  the  late  Govern- 
ment or  sympathy  for  its  friends. 

The  people  in  every  country  have  certainly  a  right 
to  regulate  their  own  political  affairs  in  their  own  way. 
Whether  the  Empire  or  the  Republic  may  have  done  the 
most  for  the  welfare  of  the  nation,  and  which  form  of 
Government  is  to  be  considered  as  the  most  conducive  to 
the  prosperity  of  Prance,  are  questions  that  time  must 
decide;  but  the  men  of  whom  I  speak,  and  who  held  the 
power  during  the  days  that  immediately  followed  the  3d 
of  September,  were  not  Republicans;  they  were  usurpers 
who  represented  no  settled  form  of  government;  and  in 
France  there  is  no  real  patriot,  to  whatever  party  he  may 
belong,  who  is  now  willing  to  defend  the  policy  these 
men  thought  it  expedient  to  adopt,  and  who  is  not  ashamed 
of  the  license  and  anarchy  that  reigned  in  Paris  for  a 
long  while  after  the  fall  of  the  Second  Empire. 

Again,  the  Empress'  arrest  might  be  attempted  for 
another  reason.  It  was  not  certain  that  the  Revolution 
proclaimed  in  the  streets  of  Paris  either  was  or  would  be 
successful.  No  one  knew  how  it  would  be  received  by  the 
country  or  by  the  army.  The  Empress,  although  a  fugi- 
tive, was  still  Regent.  Were  she,  therefore,  once  out  of 
the  capital  and  beyond  the  reach  of  the  insurgents,  the 
members  and  friends  of  the  Imperial  Government,  and  the 
army,  might  rally  round  her  and  a  new  seat  of  government 
be  established.  To  prevent  the  possibility  of  such  an  event, 
the  leaders  of  the  Revolution  might  think  it  of  the  utmost 
importance  to  obtain  possession  of  her  person.  With  the 
Emperor  a  prisoner  in  the  hands  of  the  Germans,  and 
the  Empress  lodged  at  the  Conciergerie  in  Paris,  the 
overthrow  of  the  Empire  might  properly  be  considered  as 
complete  and  final. 

I  was  not  surprised  afterward  to  learn  it  was  generally 
expected  in  the  Chancelleries  of  Europe  that,  in  the  event 


THE    EMPRESS    AT    MY    HOUSE         305 

of  a  successful  insurrection  in  Paris,  the  Regent  would 
attempt  to  transfer  the  seat  of  the  Imperial  Government 
to  some  place  in  the  provinces.  That  the  leaders  of  the 
Revolution  should  apparently  not  have  thought  of  this, 
nor  taken  any  means  to  prevent  it,  is  a  remarkable  fact, 
which  reveals  the  extreme  confusion  and  want  of  foresight 
existing  at  the  time  among  those  into  whose  hands  power 
had  suddenly  fallen.  They  were  so  dazed  and  intoxicated 
by  the  prodigious  results  of  a  street  riot,  that  for  many 
days,  happily,  they  forgot  the  very  existence  of  the 
Empress. 

We  were  thoroughly  impressed  with  the  idea  that  we 
were  about  to  engage  in  an  undertaking  attended  by  many 
risks,  and  that  it  would  require  great  discretion  on  our 
part  if  it  was  to  be  successfully  executed.  What  made 
caution  all  the  more  requisite  was  that,  although  very 
plainly  dressed,  the  Empress  could  not  divest  herself  of 
the  air  of  distinction  that  marked  every  feature  of  her 
personality ;  while  from  her  frequent  appearance  in  public, 
and  through  pictures  and  photographs,  her  face  was  so 
well  known  to  Frenchmen,  that  were  she  seen  by  any  half 
dozen  of  them  she  would  almost  certainly  be  recognized  by 
more  than  one. 

Taking  all  these  things  into  consideration,  we  were 
convinced  that  the  journey  to  the  coast  could  be  made  with 
some  degree  of  safety  only  by  keeping  away  as  much  as 
possible  from  all  assemblies  of  people,  and  by  making 
use  of  private  conveyances  alone. 

The  next  thing  to  do  was  to  select  some  point  on  the 
coast  from  which  we  could  easily  embark,  and  at  which, 
also,  we  could  arrive  without  being  exposed  to  public 
notice. 

My  wife  had  been  spending  iho  month  of  August  in 
Normandy,  and  was  still  at  the  Hotel  dn  Casino  in  Deau- 
ville,  a  quiet  seaside  resort  near  Trouville,  and  not  far 
from  Havre.    I  was  acquainted  with  the  neighborhood,  and, 


306         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

furthermore,  my  wife  might  be  able  to  render  us  valuable 
assistance.  Having,  for  these  reasons,  fixed  upon  Deau- 
ville  as  our  objective  point,  as  a  place  where,  or  near  which, 
we  should  be  likely  to  find  a  yacht  or  boat  of  some  kind 
in  which  we  could  cross  the  Channel,  it  was  next  settled 
that  we  should  begin  the  journey  in  my  own  carriage; 
since  we  felt  pretty  sure  that  we  could  count  on  finding 
relays  of  horses  along  the  route  in  such  towns  as  Mantes, 
Evreux,  and  Lisieux.  And,  finally,  it  was  thought  best 
that  we  should  leave  Paris  early  the  next  morning. 

This  plan  having  been  agreed  upon  between  us,  it  was 
submitted  to  her  Majesty,  who  accepted  it  very  willingly, 
and  evidently  with  a  feeling  of  great  relief ;  for  a  decision 
had  been  reached.  It  only  remained  to  arrange  a  few 
details. 

The  passports  which  the  Empress  had  brought  with  her 
were  now  examined,  and  one  of  them  was  found  to  have 
been  obtained  at  the  British  Embassy.  In  it,  all  whom  it 
might  concern  were  "  requested  and  required  to  allow 
Dr.  C (British  subject),  going  to  England,  accom- 
panied by  a  patient,  Mrs.  B (also  a  British  subject), 

to  pass  freely,  also  without  let  or  hindrance,  and  to  afford 
them  every  assistance  and  protection  of  which  they  may 
stand  in  need." 

This  passport  was  dated  the  13th  day  of  August,  and 
was  signed  "  Lyons."  It  had  been  viseed  and  stamped, 
on  the  same  date,  at  the  Prefecture  of  Police  in  Paris.  It 
was  exactly  what  we  wanted ;  it  was  not  .only  a  passport 
to  England,  but  its  terms  were  such  as  to  enable  us  to 
complete  our  plan,  and  justify  it  in  the  most  plausible 
manner  possible.    Dr.  Crane  would  personate  the  physician, 

Dr.  C ;  the  Empress,  the  patient;  I,  her  brother;  and 

Madame  Lebreton,  the  nurse. 

It  may  be  remarked  that  this  passport  was  a  bond  fide 
document;  that  it  had  been  made  out  for  a  well-known 
English  physician  and  a  patient,  which,  after  having  been 


THE    EMPRESS    AT    MY    HOUSE         307 

viseed  at  the  Prefecture  of  Police,  for  some  reason  had 
not  been  called  for.  It  was  sent  to  the  Tuileries  shortly 
before  the  4th  of  September,  with  several  other  passports, 
signed  by  Prince  de  Metternich,  the  Austrian  Ambassador, 
to  be  used  if  needed,  and  according  to  the  special  require- 
ments of  the  case. 

It  was  arranged  that  we  should  all  be  ready  to  leave 
my  house  at  half  past  five  o'clock  in  the  morning.  The 
Empress  and  Madame  Lebreton  then  retired  for  the  night — 
but  not  to  sleep,  as  her  Majesty  told  me  afterward. 

And  it  was  no  wonder;  for  the  hours  the  unfortunate 
Empress  spent  that  night  in  my  house  were  the  first  in 
which  she  had  really  had  time  to  reflect  upon  the  events 
which  had  taken  place  on  that  fatal  day.  It  was  now 
for  the  first  time  that  she  began  to  realize  their  meaning — 
that  she  was  no  longer  sovereign  of  France.  Her  husband 
was  a  prisoner  of  war ;  her  son 's  fate  was  unknown  to  her ; 
she  had  lost  an  Empire,  and  was  not  only  homeless,  but 
her  nearest  friends  did  not  know  what  had  become  of  her. 
What  a.  turmoil  of  thoughts,  of  memories,  and  emotions, 
must  have  troubled  her !  All  the  scenes  of  the  strange 
drama  that  had  just  been  enacted  at  the  Tuileries  must 
have  forced  themselves  upon  her  weary  and  unwilling  mind 
most  painfully  and  vividly,  disappearing  only  to  reappear, 
like  the  confused  phantoms  of  an  evil  dream,  but  leaving 
behind,  finally,  the  awful  conviction  that  these  things 
were  no  dream.  And  then  the  memories  of  other  and 
happier  days  must  have  caused  her  to  feel  all  the  more 
acutely  this  fearful  reverse  of  fortune.  Of  all  that  she 
once  possessed,  nothing  now  remained  to  her.  Not  only 
the  homage  of  ministers,  and  chamberlains,  and  ladies  of 
honor,  and  the  splendor  of  palaces,  but  the  objects  to  which 
her  heart  was  most  attached — the  portraits  of  her  father 
and  mother  and  dearest  friends,  the  sacred  souvenirs  of 
her  youth,  her  marriage  tokens,  the  playthings  of  her  son — ■ 
all  these  things,   invaluable  on   account  of  their  tender 


308         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

associations,  were  lost  to  her,  perhaps  forever.  And  to- 
morrow— the  future — with  its  possible  dangers  and  its 
dark  uncertainty,  may  it  not  have  filled  her  anxious  mind 
with  sinister  suggestions  of  other  and  even  still  greater 
misfortunes  ? 

Probably  not.  The  future  was  all  that  remained  to  her ; 
here  it  was  that  the  greatest  interests  of  her  life  were  now 
centered.  If,  in  the  sequence  of  events,  something  was  to  be 
feared,  much  could  be  reasonably  hoped  for.  Fortune, 
who  had  been  so  prodigal  of  her  gifts  in  other  days,  might 
not  have  exhausted  all  her  favors;  it  was  pleasanter  to 
think  of  happiness  yet  to  come,  and  more  useful  to 
consider  what  her  own  course  should  be  in  order  to  avoid 
difficulties  and  dangers  and  secure  the  objects  most  ardently 
desired.  The  Empress  was  not  the  woman  to  abandon  a 
ship  that  seemed  to  be  sinking,  or  to  give  way  to  vain 
regrets.  She  was  never  a  pessimist,  but  possessed  a  happy, 
hopeful  temperament  that  always  inclined  her  to  look  upon 
the  bright  side  of  things.  And  I  am  disposed  to  believe 
that,  if  she  slept  but  little  during  this  night,  it  was  very 
much  less  on  account  of  looking  back  and  grieving  about 
what  she  had  lost,  than  for  the  reason  that  her  active, 
resourceful  mind  was  engaged  in  looking  forward,  and 
thinking  where  her  duty  lay  and  of  what  might  still  be 
saved. 

As  it  was  not  late,  Dr.  Crane  returned  to  the  city  to 
ascertain  what  the  situation  was  there,  and,  if  possible, 
to  learn  if  anything  new  had  occurred  that  would  cause 
us  to  alter  our  plans,  or  might  in  any  way  especially 
concern  us.  He  came  back  a  little  before  one  o'clock, 
and  reported  the  quarters  he  had  visited  to  be  perfectly 
quiet.  The  Guards  were  on  duty  about  the  Tuileries  as 
usual.  He  noticed  also  on  the  walls  of  the  palace,  and 
at  the  sides  of  the  arched  passageways  leading  into  the 
Place  du  Carrousel  and  the  courts  of  the  Louvre,  the  words 
"  Propriete  Nationale  "  in  large  letters  written  in  chalk. 


THE    EMPRESS    AT    MY    HOUSE         309 

It  was  evident  that  there  had  been  no  invasion  of  these 
buildings.  He  had  heard  that  a  new  Government  had  been 
proclaimed  at  the  Hotel  de  Ville,  of  which  Jules  Favre, 
Gambetta,  and  Rochefort  were  members.  At  midnight, 
except  at  the  cafes,  the  streets  were  deserted.  Indeed, 
he  had  seen  very  little  to  indicate  that  the  population 
of  Paris  was  yet  fully  conscious  of  the  profound  and 
far-reaching  consequences  of  the  events  that  had  oc- 
curred during  the  day,  although  it  was  quite  clear  that 
the  revolutionists  were  in  undisputed  possession  of  the 
city. 

In  the  meantime,  I  had  thought  it  best  to  make  a  sort 
of  reconnaissance  in  the  direction  of  the  Porte  Maillot, 
the  gate  at  the  end  of  the  Avenue  de  la  Grande  Armee, 
through  which  we  were  to  attempt  the  next  morning  to 
leave  the  city.  The  streets  along  which  I  passed  were 
silent  and  deserted.  On  reaching  a  point  from  which 
I  could  see  the  gate,  I  stopped,  and,  after  watching  a  little 
while,  noticed  that  cabs  and  carriages  were  permitted  to 
pass  in  and  out  without  apparently  being  subjected  to 
much,  if  any,  inspection  on  the  part  of  the  guard  on 
duty.  I  was  very  soon  convinced,  from  what  I  saw,  that 
no  orders  had  been  given  establishing  a  rigid  surveillance 
at  the  exits  from  the  city,  and  returned  to  my  house 
feeling  quite  confident  that  we  should  be  able  to  pass 
this  post  in  the  morning  without  much  difficulty. 

Neither  Dr.  Crane  nor  I  thought  of  rest,  and  although 
I  could  rely  entirely  on  the  fidelity  of  my  servants,  we 
both  sat  up  the  whole  night  watching  over  the  safety  of 
her  Majesty. 

During  the  gloomy  hours  that  dragged  slowly  on,  my 
mind  was  filled  with  memories  and  pictures  of  the  past. 
I  remembered  the  Empress  as  she  appeared  when  I  first 
saw  her,  her  memorable  marriage,  her  brilliant  Court; 
and  the  Emperor,  his  kindnesses  to  me  personally,  and  how 
profound  an  interest  he  always  took  in  the  welfare  of  his 


310         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

people — a  swiftly  moving,  countless  multitude  of  scenes 
and  thoughts,  that  under  the  shadow  of  the  somber  realities 
of  the  day  came  to  me  as  souvenirs,  not  of  things  once 
witnessed  by  myself  or  that  happened  within  my  own 
knowledge,  but  rather  of  some  story  of  Wonderland. 


CHAPTER   XI 

THE   FLIGHT   OF   THE   EMPRESS   FROM    PARIS 

The  departure  from  my  house — How  we  passed  through  the  Porte 
Maillot — A  little  history — The  Empress  talks  freely — The  French 
people — Saint-Germain-en-Laye — On  the  road  to  Poissy — We  stop 
at  the  wine-shop  of  Madame  Fontaine — A  la  bonne  franquette — 
We  stop  again  near  Mantes — 0  fortunatos  agricolas — I  procure  an- 
other carriage  and  fresh  horses — The  formation  of  the  new  Govern- 
ment is  reported  to  her  Majesty — Her  astonishment  on  hearing 
that  General  Trochu  was  the  President  of  this  Government — Her 
comments — Could  she  no  longer  rely  on  any  one? — The  conse- 
quences of  the  Revolution  in  Paris  not  fully  apprehended  at  the 
time — The  Empress  discusses  the  situation — Her  courage — Her 
patriotism. 

jT  was  about  five  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  Sep- 
tic tember  5th  when  I  rapped  upon  the  door  of 
£$  her  Majesty's  room,  and  informed  her  that  the 
^^  hour  fixed  for  our  departure  was  at  hand. 
Soon  after  we  had  taken  a  light  breakfast — a  cup  of  coffee 
and  a  roll — a  servant  announced  that  my  landau,  a  four- 
seated  covered  carriage,  was  at  the  door,  and  we  were 
ready  to  go. 

We  left  the  house  dressed  as  we  were  the  evening  be- 
fore. Not  a  bag,  not  a  package  even  of  toilet  articles,  did 
one  of  us  carry.  The  Empress  had  on  a  black  cashmere 
dress,  which,  she  told  me  afterward,  she  had  not  taken  off 
for  nearly  a  week,  subject  as  she  had  been  to  calls  at  every 
hour  of  the  day  and  night.  Over  this  she  wore  a  dark- 
colored,  thin  waterproof  cloak  or  mackintosh.  A  narrow, 
white  collar  about  the  neck,   dark  gloves,   and  a  round, 

311 


812         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

black  Derby  hat,  to  which  was  attached  a  plain  black  veil, 
completed  her  costume.  Not  the  slightest  attempt  had  been 
made  to  disguise  her  person,  beyond  such  concealment  as 
might  be  afforded  by  a  dress  too  simple  and  common  to 
attract  attention.  In  the  hurry  of  leaving  the  palace  she 
had  taken  with  her  absolutely  nothing  more  than  the 
clothes  she  wore,  except  a  small  reticule,  in  which  were 
a  couple  of  handkerchiefs.  She  had  no  visible  jewels  with 
her,  or  money,  or  valuables  of  any  sort.  Madame  Lebreton, 
her  companion,  was  also  very  simply  dressed,  and  without 
wraps,  or  articles  de  voyage  of  any  kind  whatsoever. 

Madame  Lebreton  entered  the  carriage  first,  taking  the 
back  seat  on  the  right  hand ;  the  Empress  took  the  seat  on 
the  left.  Dr.  Crane  sat  opposite  Madame  Lebreton,  and  I 
took  the  place  opposite  the  Empress.  This  disposition  of 
seats  had  been  prearranged;  it  would,  in  a  measure,  keep 
the  Empress  out  of  sight  of  the  guards  stationed  on  the 
left-hand  side  of  the  gate  through  which  we  were  to  pass. 
The  carriage  was  closed,  a  window  only  being  open  on  the 
side  taken  by  Madame  Lebreton  and  Dr.  Crane.  My  faith- 
ful coachman,  Celestin,  was  on  the  box.  I  told  him  to 
drive  to  Saint  Germain. 

It  was  a  few  minutes  before  sunrise  when  we  started 
on  our  journey.  The  sky  was  cloudless;  the  atmosphere 
seemed  slightly  hazy  in  the  soft  gray  light;  the  air  was 
cool  and  fresh,  but  there  was  no  wind.  It  was,  in  short, 
a  lovely  September  morning,  and  everything  gave  promise 
of  the  fine  day  it  proved  to  be.  As  we  crossed  the  sec- 
tion of  the  city  between  my  house  and  the  foot  of  the 
Avenue  de  la  Grande  Armee,  we  saw  the  street-sweepers 
at  their  work,  shutters  being  taken  down  by  shopkeepers, 
market-wagons,  and  milk-carts,  and  other  familiar  indica- 
tions of  the  hour — evidence,  in  a  word,  that  the  events  of 
the  preceding  day  had  not  interfered  perceptibly  with  the 
functions  most  intimately  connected  with  the  organic  life 
of  the  city.    When  we  arrived  at  the  gate  we  were  ordered 


FLIGHT    OF    THE    EMPRESS  313 

to  halt.  As  the  officer  of  the  guard  approached,  I  let  down 
the  window  at  my  right;  and  on  his  coming  close  to  the 
door  of  the  carriage  and  asking  me  where  we  were  going, 
I  leaned  forward,  and,  partly  filling  the  opening  with  my 
head  and  shoulders,  told  him  that  I  was  going  with  my 
carriage,  horses,  and  coachman  into  the  country  to  spend 
the  day  with  the  friends  who  were  with  me ;  that  I  was  an 
American;  that  I  lived  in  Paris,  and  was  well  known  to 
everybody  in  the  neighborhood.  He  did  not  ask  my  name. 
Had  he  done  so  I  probably  should  have  given  it.  My  reply 
to  his  question  seemed  to  be  perfectly  satisfactory  to  him; 
for,  stepping  back,  he  looked  up  at  the  coachman,  and  said, 
"  Allez"  (go  on). 

I  may  add,  to  complete  the  account  of  this  interview 
with  the  guard  at  the  Porte  Maillot,  that,  fearing  a  person 
on  coming  close  to  the  carriage  might  see  and  have  too 
good  an  opportunity  to  inspect  the  occupants  of  the  back 
seat,  I  had  provided  myself,  before  starting  off,  with  a 
newspaper  to  be  used  as  a  screen,  should  the  case  require 
it.  While  speaking  with  the  officer  on  guard,  I  held  the 
paper  loosely  opened  in  my  left  hand,  which  rested  on  the 
side  of  the  window  nearest  the  Empress.  This  newspaper 
completely  concealed  her  face  from  the  view  of  any  one 
standing  on  that  side  of  the  carriage. 

As  I  leaned  back  in  my  seat  I  heard  the  rumble  of  our 
wheels  as  we  went  over  a  sort  of  drawbridge  thrown  across 
the  moat  in  front  of  the  fortifications,  which  had  been 
extended  and  cut  through  the  roadway,  and  I  caught  a 
glimpse  of  some  palisades  and  earthworks  that  had  just 
been  erected, to  defend  this  entrance  to  the  city  in  the  event 
of  a  siege.  In  a  moment  we  were  past  the  outposts  and  the 
sentries,  and  I  was  greatly  delighted  to  know  that  we  had 
escaped  the  first,  and  perhaps  greatest,  danger  we  were  to 
meet  on  our  journey.  Indeed,  it  was  an  immense  relief 
to  every  one  of  us  to  feel  that,  after  the  long  hours  of 
anxious  waiting  through  the  night  for  the  day  to  come, 


314         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

we  were  now  safely  out  of  Paris  and  on  our  way  to  the 
coast. 

But  I  could  not  help  looking  back  once  more  upon  the 
city  where  I  had  resided  so  many  years,  and  which  I  had 
left,  in  all  probability,  for  a  long  time,  perhaps  forever; 
for  the  future  nobody  could  foresee,  and  all  the  indications 
seemed  to  justify  the  most  gloomy  apprehensions.  Behind 
us  loomed  up  the  majestic  form  of  the  Arc  de  Triomphe, 
reminding  me  of  the  first  Napoleon,  of  his  prodigious 
achievements  and  his  wonderful  career,  but  also  of  the 
fate  of  his  Empire,  and  of  the  man  whose  sole  aim  was  the 
glorification  of  France.  And  was  history  about  to  repeat 
itself?  The  successor  and  continuator  of  the  grand  ideas 
of  the  great  Captain  was  to-day  a  prisoner  of  war;  and 
she  to  whom  only  a  few  weeks  before  the  world  was  only 
too  eager  to  pay  homage,  dethroned  and  abandoned,  was 
fleeing  from  her  capital  under  cover  of  the  dawn. 

Continuing  on  our  way  down  that  celebrated  avenue 
along  which  "  the  Grand  Army  "  of  Napoleon  had  so  often 
marched  in  triumph,  and  coming  in  sight  of  Courbevoie, 
the  sunlight  fell  upon  Mont  Valerien,  and  illuminated  the 
hills  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Seine,  at  the  feet  of  which, 
close  by  the  river,  framed  in  foliage  just  beginning  to  be 
touched  by  the  tints  of  autumn,  lay  the  villages  of  Puteaux, 
and  Suresnes,  and  Saint  Cloud;  while  higher  up,  in  the 
park  of  Montretout  or  on  the  wooded  slopes  and  green 
terraces  in  front  of  us,  glimpses  of  the  red  roofs,  or  white, 
shining  walls  of  villas  or  kiosks  were  to  be  seen.  The 
landscape  that  was  spread  out  before  us  was  most  charm- 
ing, full  of  natural  beauty  and  repose,  but  at  this  early 
hour  so  wonderfully  still,  so  suggestive  of  peace  and  happi- 
ness, and  so  contrasting  with  the  noisy  scenes  of  passion 
and  violence  which  we  had  just  witnessed,  as  to  make  us 
feel  that  we  were  now  in  quite  another  and  altogether 
blessed  and  heavenly  world.  The  very  sight  of  the  open 
country  relieved  the  tension  of  our  jaded  nerves,  and  we 


FLIGHT    OF    THE    EMPRESS  315 

began  to  breathe  more  freely  under  the  spell  of  its  sooth- 
ing and  benign  influence.  Our  hearts  were  full  of  the  joy 
of  a  deliverance  from  a  great  danger ;  and  the  fresh  morn- 
ing air  that  entered  our  carriage  windows,  now  opened,  was 
most  grateful  to  us,  especially  to  her  Majesty,  who  had  been 
subjected  so  long  to  the  terrible  weight  of  official  respon- 
sibility and  personal  anxieties. 

Yet  there  was  something  inexpressibly  sad  in  the 
thoughts  suggested  at  every  turn  of  our  route.  On  the 
right  once  stood  the  Chateau  of  Neuilly,  the  favorite  resi- 
dence of  Louis  Philippe.  It  was  only  a  little  over  twenty 
years  before,  in  February,  1848,  that  I  had  seen  this  splen- 
did building  plundered  by  the  mob,  and  almost  burned  to 
the  ground.  And  soon  we  were  passing  by  the  bronze 
statue  of  the  "  Little  Corporal,"  standing  like  a  sentry 
on  guard  at  the  end  of  the  broad  Avenue  in  the  Rond-Point 
of  Courbevoie — but  since  removed  by  the  "  Patriots  "  and 
pitched  into  the  Seine.  Two  or  three  miles  farther  on  we 
came  in  sight  of  the  Church  of  Rueil,  where  rest  the  ashes 
of  the  Empress  Josephine,  and  of  Queen  Hortense,  the 
mother  of  Napoleon  III.  And  this  mother  was  herself  a 
fugitive  from  the  Tuileries,  when,  in  March,  1814,  the  vic- 
torious army  of  the  allies  reached  Paris ;  and  as  she  escaped 
from  the  city  she  heard  the  guns  that  fired  the  last  shots 
in  its  defense  from  the  Buttes  Chaumont.  Strange  as  it 
may  seem,  these  guns  were  under  the  command  of  Colonel 
Porto  Carrero,  Count  de  Teba,  the  father  of  the  Empress 
Eugenie.  A  few  minutes  later  we  passed  the  gate  of  the 
Park  of  Malmaison,  the  famous  Chateau  in  which  the  Em- 
press Josephine  so  long  resided,  and  where  she  died;  and 
where,  after  Waterloo,  Napoleon  sought  a  refuge  for  a  day 
with  his  mother;  and  whence,  with  a  "  Good-by,  mother," 
"  Good-by,  son,"  mother  and  son  separated,  she  to  be 
thenceforth,  to  use  her  own  words,  "  la  mere  de  toutes  les 
douleurs,"  and  he,  the  son,  never  to  see  France  again;  and 
where  Napoleon  III.  also  saw  for  the  last  time  his  uncle, 


316         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

who,  as  he  turned  to  leave  the  house,  seeing  the  little  Prince, 
caught  him  up  in  his  arms,  and  with  tears  in  his  eyes  kissed 
him  again  and  again.  Is  it  strange  that  the  great  image  of 
Napoleon  should  have  been  graven  upon  the  heart  of  this 
child,  there  to  remain  forever  ? 

What  memories  this  word  "  Malmaison  "  brought  to 
mind !  Everything  about  us  was  suggestive.  The  very  road 
we  were  traveling  had  been  a  via  dolorosa  in  the  history 
of  the  Bonaparte  family.  And  of  the  moving  scenes  of 
romance  and  tragedy  of  which  this  place  had  been  the 
witness,  was  this  hurried  flight  to  be  the  last  ?  * 

The  spirits  of  the  Empress  rose  as  we  went  on  our  way 
along  the  route  Imperiale,  the  great  highway  that  follows 
the  left  bank  of  the  Seine  through  Bougival,  Marly,  and 
Le  Pecq,  these  lovely  suburbs  of  the  French  capital,  where 
the  parks  and  gardens  were  still  fresh,  and  clean,  and  full 
of  color ;  and  she  talked  freely,  and  often  with  great  anima- 
tion, about  her  present  difficult  situation,  and  the  events 
and  incidents  that  had  led  up  to  it. 

'  They  asked  me  to  abdicate,"  she  said,  "  but  how 
could  I  ?  How  could  I,  who  have  acted  only  as  a  delegate, 
abdicate  a  sovereignty  that  is  not  my  own  ?  I  had,  on  per- 
sonal grounds,  no  objection  to  doing  this ;  I  was  quite  will- 
ing to  surrender  into  the  hands  of  the  representatives  of 
the  people  all  my  power  as  Regent,  but  it  seemed  to  me 
necessary,  in  the  interests  of  France,  that  the  Regency 
should  be  maintained  in  name  in  order  to  meet  with  effi- 
ciency the  exigencies  of  the  moment.  And  I  told  them  that 
the  one  thing,  the  only  thing,  that  should  concern  us  now 
is  the  military  situation,  the  enemy,  and  our  armies;  and 
that  in  the  defense  of  the  country  I  was  ready  to  assist 
any  persons,  no  matter  who  they  might  be,  provided  they 
possessed  the  confidence  of  the  nation." 

*  The  place  derived  its  name  "  Malmaison "  {Mala  Domus)  from 
tragedies  that  took  place  there  nearly  a  thousand  years  ago,  during  its 
occupancy  by  the  Normans. 


FLIGHT    OF    THE    EMPRESS  317 

Everything  indicated  that  Paris  would  be  besieged 
within  a  few  weeks;  and  when  her  Majesty  recalled  how 
much  she  herself  had  done  to  prepare  the  city  for  such  an 
emergency,  she  felt  deeply  grieved  that  she  should  not  be 
permitted  to  have  the  just  satisfaction  of  guiding,  by  her 
authority  and  judgment,  the  defense  toward  which  she  had 
contributed  so  much.  How  willingly  would  she  have  run 
all  risks,  and  have  made  every  sacrifice  for  her  subjects ! 
How  gladly  would  she  have  shared  their  sorrows  and  mis- 
fortunes! How  bravely  would  she  have  endured  all  suf- 
fering ! 

'  I  could  have  been,"  she  said,  "  of  service  in  many 
ways.  I  could  have  been  an  example  of  devotion  to  my 
country.  I  could  have  visited  the  hospitals;  I  could  have 
gone  to  the  outposts;  I  could  have  encouraged  and  stimu- 
lated the  defense  at  every  point  of  danger  by  my  presence." 
Finally,  wrought  up,  as  it  were,  to  a  state  of  exaltation 
by  her  own  words,  she  cried  out :  "  Oh,  why  could  they  not 
have  let  me  die  before  the  walls  of  Paris !  ' ' 

She  referred  with  indignation  to  the  attempts  that  had 
been  made  to  throw  upon  her  personally  the  responsibility 
for  the  war — a  war  justifiable  solely  because  German  diplo- 
macy had  put  in  jeopardy  the  prestige  of  the  French 
nation;  and  which  had  been  precipitated  by  the  clamor 
of  the  very  persons  who  were  now  trying  to  disclaim  any 
responsibility  for  its  consequences,  and  at  the  same  time 
were  rejoicing  at  the  opportunity  thus  given  them  to  rise 
to  power  on  the  ruins  of  the  State.  "  The  French  people," 
she  went  on  to  say,  ' '  have  great  and  shining  qualities,  but 
they  have  few  convictions,  and  lack  steadfastness.  They 
are  versatile,  but  volatile.  They  love  glory  and  the  sun- 
shine, but  have  no  heart  for  reverses  of  fortune.  With 
them  the  standard  of  right  is  success.  In  France  we  are 
honored  to-day  and  banished  to-morrow.  It  has  sometimes 
seemed  to  me  that  the  French  set  up  their  heroes,  as  it  were, 
on  pedestals  of  salt,  so  that  when  the  first  storm  strikes  them 
22 


SI  8         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

they  tumble  down,  to  lie  forever  in  the  mud.  In  no  country 
in  the  world  is  the  step  between  the  sublime  and  the  ridic- 
ulous so  short  as  in  this.  And  how  French  history  repeats 
itself !  Every  Government  in  France,  for  a  hundred  years, 
with  a  single  exception,  has  ended  in  a  Revolution  and  a 
flight.  Only  a  few  days  ago  I  declared  to  some  of  those  who 
were  near  me  and  were  fearful  lest  the  announcement  of 
another  defeat  might  lead  to  the  fall  of  the  Imperial  Gov- 
ernment, that  I  never  would  leave  the  Tuileries  in  a  cab, 
as  Charles  X.  and  Louis  Philippe  did.  And  that  is  exactly 
what  I  have  done !  "  As  she  said  this,  she  could  not  resist 
the  impulse  to  laugh  at  the  comicality  of  the  coincidence. 

But  the  subjects  referred  to  sometimes  brought  the 
tears  to  her  eyes ;  as,  for  instance,  when  she  told  us  of  the 
despatch  she  received  from  the  Emperor  on  Saturday  eve- 
ning, announcing  that  the  army  had  surrendered  at  Sedan, 
and  that  he  was  a  prisoner,  after  having  in  vain  sought  to 
die  on  the  field.  "It  is  terrible!  "  she  exclaimed.  '  I 
cannot  think  of  it,  and  I  myself  am  here  a  fugitive !  It 
all  seems  like  a  horrid  nightmare."  Then,  quickly  chan- 
ging the  conversation  to  some  political  subject,  she  dis- 
cussed it  with  vivacity  as  well  as  with  remarkable  per- 
spicacity; or  some  personal  incident  coming  to  mind,  she 
narrated  it  with  striking,  and  often  amusing,  originality 
and  esprit. 

And  now  the  first  houses  of  Saint- Germain-en-Laye 
came  in  sight,  and  the  anxieties  of  the  moment  arrested 
the  conversation. 

We  had  again  come  to  a  place  where  caution  was  neces- 
sary, because,  before  entering  the  city,  we  had  to  pass  the 
toll-gate,  where  the  Octroi  officers  were  stationed,  and  an 
inspection  of  our  carriage,  for  the  purpose  of  seeing 
whether  we  had  with  us  any  articles  subject  to  the  Octroi 
(the  city  toll),  was  sure  to  take  place.  We  could  not,  of 
course,  avoid  this  investigation,  and  I  had  to  think  of  some 
device  by  which  I  might  be  able  to  quiet  the  suspicions  of 


FLIGHT    OF    THE    EMPRESS  319 

these  toll-takers  in  ease  they  should  be  too  inquisitive. 
Remembering  that  near  Saint  Germain  there  lived  an 
English  lady,  one  of  my  acquaintances,  who  was  very  well 
known,  and  was  loved  by  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  neigh- 
borhood on  account  of  her  charity  and  kindness  to  the  poor, 
I  had  decided  to  state,  should  I  be  asked  where  we  were 
going,  or  if  any  trouble  should  arise,  that  we  were  the 
friends  of  this  lady,  and  I  was  nearly  certain  that  any  of 
her  friends  would  be  respected ;  while  at  the  same  time  I 
was  persuaded  that  a  few  words  to  Lady  Trotter — this 
was  the  name  of  the  lady — would  be  sufficient  to  make  her 
enter  into  my  plans  for  the  safety  of  her  Majesty. 

Fortunately,  things  turned  out  better  than  we  had  ex- 
pected, and  we  were  not  obliged  to  appeal  to  Lady  Trotter. 
The  officers,  when  we  reached  the  gate,  permitted  our  car- 
riage to  pass  almost  without  stopping.  They  had  no  sus- 
picion of  the  character  or  quality  of  the  travelers  who  with 
so  much  anxiety  awaited  the  result  of  this  inspection;  it 
was  quite  enough  for  them  to  know  that  we  did  not  look 
like  persons  who  wished  to  smuggle  chickens,  or  cheese, 
wine,  vegetables,  or  other  similar  articles,  into  the  worthy 
city  of  Saint  Germain. 

I  will  confess  I  was  greatly  relieved  when  we  had 
passed  the  toll-gate;  for  I  was  afraid  that  my  house  had 
been  watched,  or  that  our  movements  after  leaving  it 
had  attracted  attention,  and  that  a  telegram  might  have 
been  sent  ahead  of  us  to  Saint  Germain  to  stop  us  on  our 
arrival  there. 

Although  we  were  tempted  to  make  inquiries  here  as 
to  whether  any  special  news  had  been  received  from  Paris, 
we  did  not  think  it  wise  to  ask  questions,  and  so  drove 
on  without  stopping,  leaving  the  city,  a  few  minutes  later, 
by  the  gate  which  opens  on  the  road  to  Poissy.  After  a 
short  drive  through  the  beautiful  forest  of  Saint  Germain, 
we  reached  this  town,  which  is  well  known  as  the  birth- 
place of  Louis  IX. ;  a  fact  which  suggested  to  one  of  our 


320         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

party  an  additional  piece  of  history,  as  a  pertinent  re- 
minder, perhaps,  of  the  transitory  glory  of  this  world, 
namely,  that  Philip  the  Fair  had  a  church  erected  at 
this  place,  where  once  rose  the  royal  residence  of  his 
ancestors,  and  that  the  altar  had  been  put  exactly  on 
the  spot  where  formerly  stood  the  bed  in  which  Blanche 
de  Castille  gave  birth  to  the  most  pious  of  the  French 
monarchs.  King  Philip,  we  were  told,  did  not  think  that 
this  edifice  erected  in  honor  of  the  Lord  would  ever  suc- 
cumb to  the  cruel  hand  of  political  revolution.  He  was 
mistaken,  however.  Nothing  is  eternal  but  change.  And 
so  when  the  Revolution  of  '93  came  to  startle  sleeping 
France,  like  the  sudden  eruption  of  a  volcano,  the  church 
of  Philip  and  the  renowned  abbey  connected  with  it  were 
sold  to  the  highest  bidder.  At  present  there  remains  noth- 
ing which  reminds  the  visitor  to  Poissy  of  the  former  ex- 
istence of  these  splendid  memorial  buildings,  except  the 
font  in  which  Louis  IX.  was  baptised,  and  a  leaden  urn 
containing  the  heart  of  the  pious  king. 

From  Poissy  to  Mantes,  the  road  follows  along  the 
right  bank  of  the  Seine,  and  passes  through  Triel,  Vaux, 
and  Meulan,  picturesque  towns  with  interesting  histories, 
which,  however,  we  did  not  stop  to  inquire  about  or  care 
to  think  about.  The  history  of  our  own  time — of  yester- 
day and  to-morrow — was  just  then  what  principally  con- 
cerned us. 

As  we  proceeded  on  our  way,  the  road,  shut  in  by  the 
hills  on  the  north,  and  exposed  to  the  sun  on  the  river  side, 
grew  dusty,  and  the  glare  and  the  heat  became  disagreeable 
and  oppressive ;  but  we  did  not  for  a  moment  interrupt  our 
journey  until  we  were  about  twelve  miles  from  Mantes, 
when  it  became  evident  that  our  horses  needed  rest.  We 
stopped,  therefore,  at  a  small  cabaret  by  the  wayside, 
where  we  might  obtain  some  water  for  our  horses,  and  per- 
haps some  refreshment  for  ourselves ;  for  Dr.  Crane  and  I, 
at  least,  were  beginning  to  feel  the  need  of  food,  and  were 


FLIGHT    OF    THE    EMPRESS  321 

of  the  opinion  that  it  would  be  prudent  not  to  neglect  any 
opportunity  of  getting  it. 

As  I  was  on  the  point  of  stepping  from  the  carriage,  I 
heard  a  certain  commotion  within  the  little  wine-shop,  and 
almost  at  the  same  moment  saw  at  the  door  a  stout,  red- 
faced  old  woman  clinging  to  the  handle  of  a  broom,  which 
seemed  to  be  following  in  the  air  just  behind  a  big  black 
cat  that  was  leaping  for  a  clump  of  lilac  bushes  near  by. 
"  Gros  Matou!  "  cried  the  woman,  as  the  cat  escaped  the 
impending  consequences  of  doubtless  some  indiscreet  breach 
of  the  etiquette  of  the  place.  This  exclamation,  breaking 
sharply  the  stillness  of  the  brilliant  September  morning, 
amusingly  accentuated  the  comic  features  of  a  rustic  pic- 
ture worthy  of  the  brush  of  the  elder  Teniers.  I  think  it 
caused  a  smile  to  pass  over  the  face  even  of  Madame  Le- 
breton,  who  was  more  inclined  than  her  Majesty  to  consider 
our  situation  a  sad  as  well  as  a  serious  one,  and  who  had 
looked  sorrowful  and  weary  all  the  way. 

Getting  out,  I  bade  the  woman  good  morning,  and  told 
her  we  wished  to  water  our  horses  and  rest  them  a  little; 
I  asked  her  if  she  could  furnish  us  also  with  something 
to  drink  or  to  eat. 

' '  Oh,  yes, ' '  she  said ;  "  I  can  give  you  some  good  wine, 
such  as  we  make  here  (vin  du  pays) .    Come  in  and  try  it !  ' 

The  doorway  in  which  she  stood  opened  directly  into  a 
room  that  served  at  the  same  time  as  kitchen,  wine-shop, 
and  living-room.  Entering,  I  sat  down  at  a  rough  table, 
and  in  a  few  minutes  the  woman  had  placed  upon  it  a 
bottle  of  wine  and  some  glasses,  a  roll  of  bread  a  couple 
of  yards  long,  two  or  three  kinds  of  cheese,  a  big  bologna 
sausage,  and  a  knife.  The  wine  and  bread  and  sausage 
proved  to  be  really  good,  and  Dr.  Crane  and  I  obtained  here 
a  very  satisfactory  lunch;  but  the  Empress  and  Madame 
Lebreton  were  not  disposed  to  leave  the  carriage,  nor  would 
it  have  been  prudent  for  them  to  have  done  so. 

Madame  Fontaine — that  was  the  name  of  the  woman — 


322         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

seemed  to  be  greatly  pleased  by  our  appreciation  of  the 
things  she  had  set  before  us,  and  told  us  that  she  and  her 
husband,  who  was  a  stone-mason,  owned  the  shop.  She 
gave  us  also  to  understand  that  they  had  prospered  be- 
cause they  had  always  acted  on  the  principle  that  "  good 
wine  needs  no  bush." 

Two  years  later,  when  Dr.  Crane  and  I  again  stopped 
at  this  little  wayside  inn,  Madame  Fontaine  remembered  us 
very  well;  but  to  my  question  as  to  whether  she  remem- 
bered the  appearance  of  the  persons  who  had  remained  in 
the  carriage,  she  replied  that  she  could  not,  for  she  had 
not  looked  into  the  carriage  because,  to  use  her  own  words, 
she  thought:  "  Que  c' St  ait  un  affront  de  regarder  trop  ces 
voyageurs. ' ' 

Before  settling  our  score  with  this  good  woman,  we  got 
her  to  put  up  in  a  paper  some  bread  and  a  piece  of  the 
bologna  sausage,  in  case  they  should  be  desired  or  re- 
quired on  our  journey.  It  was  rough  fare,  indeed,  but  it 
was  the  best  we  could  get;  and  not  long  after  we  had 
set  out  again  on  our  way,  the  Empress  asked  to  have  the 
package  opened.  She  then  broke  off  a  piece  of  the  bread, 
and,  having  eaten  it,  pronounced  it  excellent,  and  bor- 
rowed Dr.  Crane's  pocket-knife  to  cut  off  a  slice  of  the 
sausage.  Poor  Madame  Lebreton,  however,  seemed  to  have 
no  appetite  for  the  lunch  we  had  bought  at  the  wine- 
shop. She  had  not  recovered  from  the  shock  produced  by 
the  events  of  the  preceding  twenty-four  hours;  and  she 
lacked  also  that  rarest  of  gifts  with  which  the  Empress 
was  so  richly  endowed,  the  faculty  of  adapting  herself, 
with  the  most  perfect  ease,  simplicity,  and  naturalness, 
to  the  conditions  of  her  immediate  environment,  whatever 
they  might  be.  Sympathizing  as  the  Empress  always  did 
with  the  common  people,  with  admirable  sincerity  she 
could  neither  see  nor  feel  that  there  was  anything  ignoble 
or  unworthy  in  engaging,  whenever  it  was  necessary,  in 
the  rough  work  of  the  world,  and  bearing  the  burden  of 


FLIGHT    OF    THE    EMPRESS  323 

its  physical  discomforts  and  hardships.  A  State  dinner 
or  a  picnic  a  la  bonne  franquette,  whether  appearing  as 
the  matchless  mistress  of  some  tournament  of  beauty  and 
courtesy  at  Compiegne,  or  riding  on  a  camel  in  the  Libyan 
desert,  it  mattered  little  to  her,  although  I  think  she  would 
at  any  time  have  preferred  "  roughing  it  "  a  la  guerre 
comme  a  la  guerre  to  any  function  of  ceremonial  display, 
not  merely  as  a  diversion,  but  from  a  romantic  sense  of  the 
pleasure  of  winning  victories  by  effort  and  sacrifice. 

Soon  after  leaving  Madame  Fontaine's  establishment 
our  road  led  through  beautiful  scenery,  with  wheat-fields 
and  orchards  and  vineyards  on  either  side,  and  the  loveliness 
and  brightness  of  nature  about  us,  and  the  all-prevailing 
quiet  contrasted  strangely  with  the  complexion  of  our  in- 
most and  constantly  recurring  thoughts.  Everywhere  there 
seemed  to  dwell  peace  and  happiness.  The  war,  the  terrible 
disasters  that  had  just  befallen  the  nation,  the  great  revo- 
lution which  had  taken  place  in  the  Government,  hardly 
affected,  seemingly,  the  light-hearted,  simple  life  within 
and  around  the  pretty  farmhouses  and  cottages  by  the 
wayside. 

It  was  about  eleven  o'clock  when  we  approached  Mantes, 
and  as  our  horses  could  not  go  much  farther  except  after 
a  long  rest,  I  decided  to  stop  at  Limay,  a  suburb  on  the 
right  and  opposite  bank  of  the  Seine,  and  to  go  myself  on 
foot  into  the  city  in  order  to  procure  another  carriage  and 
fresh  horses.  The  place  where  we  halted  was  near  the  Rue 
Farvielle,  just  by  the  junction  of  the  roads  leading  to 
Meulan  and  to  Magny.  A  sign-post  stood  in  the  angle  of 
the  roads ;  it  bore  on  one  side  the  inscription,  ' '  Route  Im- 
periale,"  and  on  the  other  the  number  13  and  the  inscrip- 
tion, 'a  Meulan  13.5  kilometres."  Over  a  large  orna- 
mental iron  gate,  at  our  left,  were  inscribed  Virgil's  well- 
known  words: 

"  O  fortunatos  nimium  sua  si  bona  norint  agricolas  " 
(Oh!  only  two  fortunate  farmers — did  they  but  know  it) 


324         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

words  that  might  well  have  expressed  the  thought  of  the 
unfortunate  sovereign  herself  during  the  last  stage  of  our 
journey,  and  also  during  the  anxious  hour  of  waiting  that 
followed,  near  this  gate,  when,  looking  out  from  the  car- 
riage in  which  she  alone  kept  her  seat,  half  concealed  in  the 
corner,  she  saw  spread  out  before  her  in  this  lovely  valley 
of  the  Seine  the  broad  and  highly  cultivated  fields  that 
extended  southward  and  westward  to  the  forests,  and  the 
blue  undulating  hills  in  the  far  distance,  and  which  lay, 
as  it  were,  asleep  in  the  soft  sunshine — "  procul  discordi- 
bus  armis." 

A  few  minutes  after  having  left  my  companions,  cross- 
ing the  bridge  I  entered  Mantes  la  Jolie,  as  it  was  formerly 
called.  The  morning  papers  from  Paris  had  just  arrived, 
and  I  went  to  a  small  stationery  shop  in  the  Rue  Royale 
(now  called  Rue  Nationale),  No.  25,  belonging  to  Messrs. 
Beaumont  Freres,  and  bought  copies  of  the  Journal  Officiel 
and  the  Figaro,  which  I  scanned  carefully  in  order  to  see 
if  they  contained  any  paragraphs  referring  to  the  Empress ; 
but  I  could  not  discover  any.  It  seemed  that  up  to  the 
morning  of  the  5th  the  disappearance  of  her  Majesty  had 
not  been  publicly  noticed.  This  gave  me  some  ease  of  mind ; 
still,  it  was  not  clear  to  me  what  steps  I  should  take  in 
order  for  us  to  continue  our  journey.  While  I  was  think- 
ing over  this  matter  and  walking  through  the  streets,  with- 
out knowing  just  what  to  do  or  where  to  go,  I  saw  a  harm- 
less-looking individual  standing  before  a  shop,  reading  a 
newspaper ;  and  from  an  exclamation  he  gave  utterance  to, 
I  observed  that  he  seemed  to  be  greatly  astonished.  The 
reason  of  his  astonishment  was,  of  course,  the  news  of  the 
Revolution  in  Paris  and  the  proclamation  of  the  Republic. 
But  pretending  not  to  have  any  idea  of  what  he  had  found 
so  startling  in  his  paper,  I  approached  him,  and  asked  him 
if  he  would  kindly  let  me  know  what  important  event  had 
taken  place. 

' '  The  Republic  has  been  proclaimed  in  Paris, ' '  he  said, 


FLIGHT    OF    THE    EMPRESS  325 

"  and  there  is  great  excitement  there  on  account  of  the  fall 
of  the  Empire." 

"  The  fall  of  the  Empire!  '  I  exclaimed,  as  if  sur- 
prised.    "  Are  you  certain  that  the  report  is  correct1?  ' 

He  handed  me  the  paper,  and,  reading  it,  I  pretended 
to  discover  news  which  was  entirely  unknown  to  me  and 
which  greatly  disconcerted  me. 

"  I  must  at  once  go  back  to  the  place  from  which  I 
came,"  I  said,  returning  to  him  the  newspaper;  "  I  must 
report  to  my  friends  this  extraordinary  announcement. 
But  where  shall  I  find  a  carriage?     Besides,  the  Marquis 

de  R "    (I  remembered  that  this  gentleman  had  an 

estate  near  Mantes,  but  I  had  no  idea  where  it  was  situated) 
' '  must  know,  through  me,  at  once,  what  has  happened,  and 
I  shall  be  greatly  obliged  to  you  if  you  will  tell  me  where 
I  can  find  a  carriage  to  take  me  to  his  chateau." 

Thereupon  the  good  man  conducted  me  to  the  place 
where  the  omnibus  office  was  situated,  and  told  me  that  here, 
if  anywhere,  I  would  be  able  to  get  what  I  desired. 

At  the  office,  which  was  in  the  Rue  Bourgeoise,  No.  36, 
I  inquired  if  I  could  obtain  there  a  four-seated  carriage 
with  a  driver,  and  was  told  that  I  must  wait  for  information 
until  the  return  of  the  omnibus,  which  had  been  sent  off  to 
the  railway  station  with  passengers. 

I  waited  for  about  half  an  hour.  But  that  half  hour 
seemed  a  century  to  me ;  and  I  did  not  dare  to  walk  again 
through  the  streets  of  the  town,  where  I  was  sure  to  attract 
notice;  for  in  French  provincial  towns  every  stranger  is 
easily  recognized. 

At  length  becoming  impatient  at  this  detention,  I  asked 
to  be  shown  into  the  carriage-house,  wishing  to  see  for 
myself  if  there  was  really  on  the  premises  a  conveyance 
of  any  sort  which  we  could  make  use  of.  To  my  great 
dismay,  when  I  entered  I  saw  at  first  nothing  but  a  two- 
wheeled  vehicle,  which,  of  course,  would  not  have  suited  us. 
On   looking   around,   however,    I   discovered  in  a  corner, 


326         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

partly  hidden  under  a  covering,  a  carriage  in  which  four 
persons  could  easily  travel;  in  fact,  it  would  apparently 
answer  our  purpose  perfectly,  as  it  could  be  opened  or 
closed  as  occasion  might  require. 

When  the  omnibus  returned  from  the  station  I  at  once 
opened  a  conversation  with  the  man  in  charge  of  the  stable, 
by  asking  him  if  he  could  let  me  have  a  carriage.  His 
answer  quite  naturally  was :  ' '  What  kind  of  a  carriage  do 
you  want,  and  where  do  you  wish  to  go?  " 

I  then  said  to  him — thinking  it  best  to  tell  a  plain  story, 
one  as  near  the  truth  as  was  prudent — that  I  had  started 
that  morning  from  Paris  in  my  own  carriage  with  my  in- 
valid sister,  her  doctor,  and  a  lady  companion,  on  the  way 
to  Trouville ;  that  we  had  taken  this  means  of  traveling  as 
my  sister  preferred  it  to  going  by  the  railway;  that  we 
had  proposed  to  make  the  journey  by  easy  stages,  but  that, 
unfortunately,  we  had  met  with  an  accident  just  before 
reaching  Mantes  which  would  make  it  necessary  for  us  to 
send  our  carriage  back  to  Paris  and  continue  our  journey 
in  some  other  way;  and  that,  as  this  occurrence  had  inter- 
fered with  our  original  plans  and  most  of  the  day  was  still 
before  us,  we  had  decided,  if  we  could  obtain  another  car- 
riage in  Mantes,  to  go  on  to  Evreux.  I  then  said  to  him : 
"  Can  you  furnish  me  with  a  conveyance  suitable  to  take 
our  party  of  four  persons  to  Evreux,  or  to  some  place  on 
the  road  where  we  can  obtain  a  relay  to  carry  us  to  that 
town?  " 

He  replied  that  he  could  not  send  us  as  far  as  Evreux, 
the  distance,  going  and  returning  the  same  day,  being  too 
great  for  the  horses;  but  that  for  thirty  francs  he  would 
give  me  a  landau,  with  horses  and  a  driver,  which  would 
take  us  to  Pacy,  where  we  would  have  no  difficulty  in  find- 
ing a  conveyance  in  which  to  go  on  to  Evreux,  if  we  wished 
to  do  so. 

My  mind  was  very  greatly  relieved  when  I  found  that 
I  could  get  what  I  so  much  desired— the  means  of  continu- 


FLIGHT    OF    THE    EMPRESS  327 

ing  our  journey  in  the  way  we  had  begun  it.  I  therefore 
accepted  at  once  the  terms  of  this  offer,  although  I  should 
have  been  still  better  satisfied  had  I  known  that  our  way 
was  clear  to  Evreux  without  a  break. 

The  man  then  went  with  me  to  the  carriage-house ;  the 
vehicle  that  I  had  seen  was  pulled  out,  a  pair  of  fairly  good 
horses  attached  to  it,  and  the  driver  was  told  to  go  with  me 
to  the  place  on  the  Paris  road  where  we  had  stopped,  and 
to  take  our  party  on  as  far  as  Pacy. 

A  few  minutes  later  I  found  myself,  to  my  extreme 
delight,  en  route;  and  I  was  pleased,  also,  to  observe  that 
the  "  turn-out  "  I  had  secured  was,  taking  it  altogether, 
a  very  comfortable  and  decent-looking  affair,  even  better 
suited  for  the  business  before  us  than  the  voiture  de  maitre 
in  which  we  had  made  the  journey  to  Mantes,  because  it 
would  be  less  likely  to  attract  the  attention  of  those  whom 
we  might  meet  on  the  way. 

After  a  short  drive,  we  arrived  where  Celestin,  with 
my  carriage,  was  waiting.  When  a  few  rods  from  the 
place  I  told  the  man  to  stop ;  and  going  to  my  friends 
I  explained  how  I  had  arranged  matters,  giving  to  her 
Majesty  and  my  companions  instructions  how  to  act  in 
order  to  prevent  the  new  coachman  seeing  her  Majesty's 
face. 

This  done,  I  returned,  and  directed  the  driver  to  bring 
his  landau  up  as  close  as  possible  to  my  own,  so  that  the 
doors  of  the  carriages  should  be  exactly  opposite  each  other. 
By  this  device  the  Empress,  as  well  as  Madame  Lebreton, 
was  able  to  take  her  seat  by  simply  stepping  from  one  car- 
riage into  the  other;  and  as  the  drivers  were  facing  in 
opposite  directions,  neither  of  them  was  able  to  see  the 
travelers  without  turning  and  looking  back — and  this  they 
did  not  do. 

1  then  gave  my  coachman,  Celestin,  orders  to  return 
to  Paris;  and  having  instructed  the  driver  of  our  new 
conveyance  to  turn  about  and  proceed  on  his  way,  passing 


328 


THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 


through  the  outskirts  of  Mantes  to  the  route  Imperials 
leading  to  Evreux,  Dr.  Crane  and  I  again  took  our  seats 
in  front  of  the  ladies. 

When,  after  leaving  the  town  behind  us,  we  had  reached 
the  open  country,  I  reported  to  her  Majesty  the  news  I  had 
obtained  at  Mantes :  that  the  Republic  had  been  proclaimed 
at  the  Hotel  de  Ville;  that  a  Ministry  had  been  chosen 
which  included  among  its  members  Favre,  Gambetta,  Cre- 
mieux,  Picard,  and  Jules  Simon ;  that  the  new  Government 
was  called  "  Le  Gouvernement  de  la  Defense  Nationale  "; 
that  apparently  it  was  in  full  possession  of  all  of  the  admin- 
istrative offices,  with  the  army  behind  it;  "  for,"  I  added, 
"  Trochu,  the  Military  Governor  of  Paris,  is  at  the  head 
of  the  revolutionary  movement."  Her  Majesty  listened  to 
me  with  interest  while  I  was  speaking  of  the  revolutionary 
Government  as  an  accomplished  fact,  but  appeared  to  be 
anxious  only  to  know  who  had  been  made  Minister  of  the 
Interior,  and  who  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs.  That,  the 
Imperial  authority  having  been  momentarily  paralyzed  by 
the  action  of  the  mob,  an  attempt  should  have  been  made 
by  the  enemies  of  the  Empire  to  profit  by  the  opportunity 
to  seize  the  sovereign  power,  seemed  to  be  something  that 
she  was  quite  prepared  to  hear.  When,  however,  I  an- 
nounced that  the  Military  Governor  of  Paris  (Trochu)  had 
joined  hands  with  the  agents  of  the  revolt  and  had  con- 
sented to  act  as  their  chief,  she  manifested  great  astonish- 
ment, and  at  first  refused  to  believe  it. 

'No,  no,"  she  said,  "this  cannot  be  so!"  Then, 
after  a  brief  pause,  she  added  with  much  feeling:  "  How 
could  he  go  over  to  the  Revolutionists,  after  the  solemn 
declarations  of  loyalty  and  personal  devotion  that  he  made 
to  me?     I  cannot  believe  it!  " 

'  But,  madame,"  I  replied,  "  here  is  the  Journal 
Officiel,  published  this  morning,  in  which  there  is  an  ac- 
count of  the  proceedings  at  the  Hotel  de  Ville  that  imme- 
diately followed  the  invasion  of  the  Chamber  of  Deputies. 


FLIGHT    OF    THE    EMPRESS  329 

You  will  see,"  I  said,  as  I  handed  the  paper  to  her,  "  the 
names  of  the  persons  calling  themselves  the  Government 
of  the  National  Defense,  and  that  General  Trochu  is  the 
President  of  this  Government." 

The  Empress  took  the  paper,  and  glancing  over  the 
list  of  names  in  the  new  Ministry,  her  eyes  fell  on  the 
following  words: 

"  General  Trochu,  invested  with  full  military  powers 
for  the  national  defense,  has  been  appointed  President  of 
the  Government. 

"  For  the  Government  of  the  National  Defense, 
"  Leon  Gambetta, 

"  Minister  of  the  Interior." 

As  soon  as  she  had  read  this,  the  paper  dropped  from 
her  hands,  and  she  exclaimed : 

'  How  was  it  possible  for  him  to  so  betray  me !  ' 
Then,  after  a  few  moments,  she  continued :  ' '  Only  yes- 
terday morning,  spontaneously,  of  his  own  volition,  he 
pledged  to  me,  on  his  honor  as  a  soldier,  on  his  faith  as  a 
Catholic  and  a  Breton,  that  he  would  never  desert  me ;  that 
whoever  might  wish  to  harm  me,  would  have  to  pass  first 
over  his  dead  body;  and  those  words  were  spoken  with 
such  apparent  emotion  that  I  could  not  suspect  his  sin- 
cerity. His  loyalty  he  proudly  proclaimed  from  the  dajr 
he  was  made  Governor  of  Paris.  Shortly  afterward,  at  a 
Council  of  the  Ministers,  when  the  measures  to  be  taken  to 
prevent  an  insurrection  in  Paris  were  brought  up  for  dis- 
cussion, General  Trochu  being  present,  I  said :  '  In  case 
of  a  revolt  I  do  not  wish  you  to  think  of  me;  but  it  is 
most  important  that  the  Corps  Legislatif  should  be  pro- 
tected.' '  Madame,'  said  General  Trochu,  addressing  me 
in  a  voice  indicative  of  decision  and  firmness,  '  I  pledge 
you  my  honor  that  I  will  protect  you,  and  the  Chamber 
of  Deputies  also.'    Whom  could  I  have  trusted,  if  not  him 


330         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

— a  soldier  selected  by  the  Emperor  himself  as  one  espe- 
cially trustworthy,  whose  accepted  duty  it  was  to  defend 
me,  who  to  the  last  hour  swore  fealty!  " 

Her  Majesty  seemed  to  be  quite  overcome  as  she  spoke. 
Her  voice  trembled,  the  tears  came  into  her  eyes,  and  she 
remained  silent  for  some  time.  Then,  taking  up  the  paper 
again,  she  read  over  the  names  of  the  members  of  the  new 
Government,  two  or  three  of  which  evoked  a  smile  or  a 
vivacious  comment,  as  she  repeated  aloud,  "  Ministre  des 
Affaires  Etrangeres,  Jules  Favre;  Ministre  de  I'Interieur, 
Gambetta."  But  she  reverted  almost  immediately  to 
Trochu,  whose  name,  in  her  mind,  seemed  to  stand  for  the 
whole  Government,  and  to  suggest  the  basest  kind  of  per- 
sonal disloyalty.  Nor  was  it  so  much  the  setting  up  of  the 
Republic  that  distressed  her  Majesty ;  in  fact,  this  appeared 
to  give  her  very  little  concern.  It  was  her  discovery  of  the 
treachery  of  the  soldier,  the  avowed  friend  and  protector, 
in  whom  she  had  trusted,  that  weighed  most  heavily  on  her 
mind.  It  was  not  the  loss  of  power  that  she  felt,  but  a  keen 
sense  of  abandonment,  which  for  the  first  time  had  thus 
been  brought  home  to  her.  And  then  there  were  others  who 
also  had  stood  very  near  to  her;  had  they,  too,  deserted 
her?  With  the  triumph  of  the  mob  in  Paris,  had  she  lost 
everything — not  only  a  throne,  but  friends,  and  faith  in  the 
honor  of  men?  By  nature  generous,  frank,  and  trustful, 
and  having  known  in  the  intimacy  of  the  Court  circle  only 
those  who  had  given  her  every  assurance  of  the  sincerity 
of  their  friendship  and  loyalty;  never  having  learned  by 
sad  experience  to  call  in  question  the  fidelity  of  her  pro- 
fessed friends;  never  herself  forgetting  a  favor;  never 
suspecting  duplicity  and  ingratitude  in  others,  one  can 
imagine  how  cruelly  she  must  have  suffered,  as  this  horrible 
thought  forced  itself  upon  her:  that  many,  perhaps  most, 
of  those  professions  of  loyalty  and  love,  which  she  had 
accepted  with  confidence  and  returned  even  with  affection, 
were  mere  lip-service,  the  masks  for  personal  ambitions 


FLIGHT    OF    THE    EMPRESS  331 

seeking  their  own  ends,  without  regard  either  to  honor  or 
conscience.  And  could  she  no  longer  rely  on  any  one  to 
help  her  and  advise  her  in  this  hour  of  great  need  and  diffi- 
culty? Was  she  absolutely  alone?  What  was  she  to  do? 
What  could  she  do?  Such  were  the  questions,  such  the 
thoughts,  that  wrought  upon  her  mind  and  caused  the  tears 
to  fall. 

But  it  was  not  long  that  these  shadows  rested  upon 
her  face.  After  a  few  moments  she  looked  up  suddenly, 
and,  smiling  through  her  tears,  said:  "  I  shall  soon  be  in 
England,  and  then  I  shall  know  what  is  to  be  done. ' '  And 
the  thought  of  soon  seeing  again  the  Prince  Imperial,  and 
perhaps  the  Emperor,  quickly  dispelled  all  traces  of  sor- 
row, and  she  talked  with  hope  and  confidence  of  the  future. 
Although  occasionally,  during  this  day  and  the  following 
days,  she  alluded  to  the  treachery  of  Trochu,  it  was  with 
no  further  manifestation  of  feeling,  except  one  of  contempt. 

Indeed,  the  Empress  did  not  at  this  time  fully  appre- 
hend the  political  consequences  of  the  Revolution.  It  was 
not  possible  then  for  any  one  to  do  so,  much  less  for  her, 
with  an  imperfect  knowledge  of  the  situation  as  it  existed 
in  Paris,  of  the  sentiment  of  the  French  nation,  and  of  the 
policy  of  the  King  of  Prussia.  She  knew  that  the  Empire, 
the  French  army,  and  France  had  met  with  a  series  of 
terrible  disasters,  and  believed  that  the  war  with  Germany 
had  practically  come  to  an  end  at  Sedan;  but  she  did  not 
seem  to  think  that  the  Republic  proclaimed  in  Paris  was 
a  necessary,  or  even  a  probable,  final,  and  substantial  eon- 
sequence  of  these  events.  She  doubted  very  much  if  the 
King  of  Prussia  would  be  willing  to  treat  with  a  Govern- 
ment which  was  the  product  of  a  street  riot,  and  the  exist- 
ence and  acts  of  which  were  without  the  sanction  of  the 
French  people.  Furthermore,  it  remained  to  be  seen  how 
the  announcement  of  this  new  Government  would  be  re- 
ceived by  the  army  that  was  under  the  command  of  Bazaine. 

Certainly  it  was  not  likely  that  a  self-constituted  Gov- 


332         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

ernment  of  Radical  Republicans,  acting  without  legitimate 
authority  and  absolutely  irresponsible,  even  if  recognized  by 
the  King  and  his  Councilors,  could  obtain  a  treaty  of  peace 
except  on  terms  humiliating  to  the  last  degree  to  the 
amour  propre  of  the  French  nation.  She  presumed  that  the 
King  of  Prussia  would  be  willing  to  conclude  a  peace  with 
the  Imperial  Government  on  conditions  that  might  be  ac- 
cepted with  honor.  She  thought  that  an  effort  should  be 
made  at  once  to  obtain  peace  on  such  conditions.  France 
was  not  prepared  for  this  war;  a  great  mistake  had  been 
made;  it  should  be  frankly  recognized  by  all,  and  the 
damage  repaired  to  the  fullest  extent  possible.  And  the 
Imperial  Government,  in  her  opinion,  would  be  far  better 
able  than  any  other  to  secure  peace  upon  favorable  terms, 
and  to  mitigate  the  consequences  of  the  existing  military 
situation.  But  if  such  was  her  opinion,  she  made  it  clearly 
understood  that  she  was  speaking  not  for  herself,  nor 
for  the  dynasty,  but  in  the  interest  of  the  French  peo- 
ple. "  I  had,"  she  said,  "  a  thousand  times  rather  aban- 
don every  attribute  of  the  sovereign  and  every  dynastic 
claim,  than  feel  that  such  claims  were  an  obstacle  to  an 
honorable  peace  and  the  permanent  prosperity  of  France. 
Oh,"  she  continued,  "  why  could  not  the  people  of  Paris 
allow  me  to  remain  with  them?  The  German  army  is  re- 
ported to  be  marching  on  to  Paris.  How  happy  I  should 
be,  could  I  have  the  privilege  of  defending — could  I  but 
save — the  city  that  for  me  possesses  so  many  delightful 
souvenirs,  for  the  sake  of  the  people  in  it,  whom  I  have 
so  dearly  loved!  " 

And  here  I  should  say,  since  I  have  spoken  of  the  sense 
of  abandonment  and  desertion  which  for  a  moment  seemed 
to  crush  and  overwhelm  her,  that  it  was  only  the  broken 
heart  of  the  woman  that  found  relief  in  silence  and  in  tears 
— broken  by  feeling  the  cruel  injustice  with  which  she  had 
been  treated  by  those  to  whom  she  had  dedicated  her  life 
and  in  whom  she  had  implicitly  confided.    But  never  once 


PACY  SlU-EURE— A   CHANliE   OF   CONVEYANCES. 


FLIGHT    OF    THE    EMPRESS  333 

did  she  exhibit  the  slightest  indication  of  fear,  or  any  sense 
of  danger  to  herself  personally.  Whatever  had  happened 
or  might  come  to  pass,  her  soul  remained  unconquered  and 
unconquerable.  When,  as  the  hours  passed  during  this  day, 
the  possibility  of  certain  eventualities  came  to  her  mind, 
it  did  not  disquiet  her,  except  it  were  the  thought  of  a 
civil  war.  This  she  shrank  from;  this  she  never  would 
listen  to. 

But  as  Regent  still — de  jure — she  was  as  fearless  and 
heroic  as  she  was  prudent.  Peace  should  be  sought,  and 
any  honorable  terms  promptly  accepted.  But  were  the 
Germans  to  consent  to  make  peace  only  on  such  terms  as 
a  great  and  brave  and  independent  people  could  not  with 
honor  accept,  then  let  the  war  go  on.  Never  would  she 
give  her  consent  to  an  ignoble  peace.  Were  insolent  and 
humiliating  conditions  exacted,  then  the  nation  should 
make  a  supreme  effort  to  drive  the  invader  from  its  terri- 
tory. Forms  of  government  and  dynasties  should  be  for- 
gotten, and  parties  disappear,  melted  in  the  glow  of  an 
ardent  patriotism. 

It  was  not  in  her  thought  to  stand  in  the  way  of  the 
national  defense.  No  personal  sacrifice  could  be  too  com- 
plete in  order  to  effect  this  object.  "I  am  willing  to 
forget  everything,  and  to  forgive  all  my  enemies,  if  they 
will  only  find  a  way  to  save  the  honor  of  the  nation.  Oh, ' ' 
said  she,  "  should  the  occasion  ever  come,  how  I  should 
like  to  show  to  the  world  the  joy  with  which  I  can  suffer 
and  endure!  " 

Her  words  were  noble  and  magnanimous — those  of  a 
self-forgetting  heroine,  ready  to  immolate  herself  at  the 
call  of  duty — while  with  passionate  eloquence  she  pro- 
claimed her  undying  devotion  to  France.  No  Orleans 
Maid  was  ever  inspired  by  a  loftier  or  more  fervent  love 
of  her  country,  or  showed  a  braver  spirit,  or  expressed  a 
more  unfaltering  purpose  to  sacrifice  herself,  if  need  be, 

to  save  her  people.     If  Fortune,  less  kind  to  her  than  to 
23 


334         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

others,  did  not  give  her  the  opportunity  to  realize  all  her 
dreams  of  glorious  doing,  it  was  through  no  fault  of  hers. 
God  had  bestowed  on  her  every  quality,  both  of  head  and 
heart,  for  such  a  part.  To  save  France  from  the  humilia- 
tion of  conquest,  and  the  army  from  the  dishonor  of  defeat, 
this  was  the  principal  theme  of  her  discourse,  and  the  sub- 
ject that  was  uppermost  in  the  Empress'  thought  until  she 
reached  England. 


CHAPTER    XII 

ON   THE   ROAD   TO   THE   COAST 

Pacy-sur-Eure — A  change  of  conveyances — The  "outfit" — A  pro- 
fessional opinion — Evreux — "Vive  la  Ripublique" — A  tragic  story 
— La  Commanderie — Horses  but  no  carriage — An  accident — La 
Riviere  de  Thibouville — A  serious  question — "  Le  Soleil  d'Or" — 
Diplomacy — "Too  funny  for  anything!" — French  peasants — A 
night  alarm — Madame  Desrats  and  her  "cabriolet" — "My  carriage 
is  at  your  disposal" — A  railway  trip — A  miserable  morning — I 
go  for  a  carriage — A  polite  clerk — A  striking  contrast — The  last 
stage  of  our  journey — Pont  l'Eveque — Another  coincidence. 

was  about  two  o'clock  when  wTe  came  to  the 
little  hamlet  of  Pacy-sur-Eure,  and  drove  into 
the  yard  of  a  house,  the  owner  of  which,  a  cer- 
tain Madame  Everard,  our  driver  had  informed 
us,  could  furnish  us  with  a  carriage  and  a  pair  of  horses. 
"  And  if  you  cannot  get  a  carriage  there,"  he  added,  "  I 
don't  think  you  can  find  one  in  the  place."  There  was  an 
uncertainty  about  this  information  that  was  rather  dis- 
quieting; and  our  disquietude  Mras  increased  on  learning 
that  there  was  no  inn  to  which  we  could  go,  excepting  one 
near  the  railway  station;  in  fact,  that  Pacy  was  a  rustic, 
shabby  place,  impossible  to  remain  in,  yet  one  it  might  not 
be  easy  to  get  out  of. 

We  had  scarcely  stopped,  when  an  elderly  country- 
woman came  forward  and  stood  in  the  doorway  of  the 
house.  Without  leaving  my  seat,  I  called  out  to  her,  ask- 
ing if  we  could  get  here  a  carriage  and  horses  to  take  us  on 
to  Evreux,  or  beyond.  She  replied  that  she  had  a  carriage, 
but  only  one  horse.     After  some  further  inquiry,  she  said 

335 


336         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

there  was  a  horse  then  working  in  a  neighboring  field 
which  might  perhaps  go  with  the  one  she  had ;  but  that  it 
was  a  much  smaller  horse,  and  the  two  had  never  been 
harnessed  together.  We  told  her  to  make  up  the  team,  and 
we  would  see  if  it  would  answer  our  purpose. 

A  boy  was  then  sent  off  to  fetch  the  horse  from  the 
field.  We  all  alighted  now,  and  the  ladies  went  into  the 
house;  although  they  would  have  very  much  preferred  to 
remain  in  the  carriage,  could  they  have  done  so. 

The  principal  room — the  general  reception-room,  it 
might  be  called — on  the  ground  floor  of  this  house,  was 
roughly  furnished,  anything  but  clean,  and  infested  with 
flies.  In  an  adjoining  room  groceries  were  kept  for  sale. 
The  flies  were  the  only  customers  while  we  were  there. 

After  waiting  a  long  time,  the  boy  returned  with  the 
horse — and  such  a  horse !  We  were  not  surprised  that  the 
old  woman  had  hesitated  to  mention  it  to  us.  However,  it 
was  Hobson's  choice.  We  could  take  it  or  leave  it.  And 
we  took  it — hoping  that  the  horse  in  the  stable,  which  we 
had  already  seen,  and  which  was  a  fairly  good  one,  would 
be  able  to  pull  us  through. 

But  the  carriage — when  it  was  dragged  out  from  under 
the  shed,  where  it  had  probably  reposed  most  of  the  time 
since  the  introduction  of  railways  in  France — was  a  wonder 
indeed.  I  really  do  not  know  how  to  describe  it.  It  was 
a  four-wheeled,  four-seated,  two-horse,  closed  vehicle,  but 
with  large,  very  large,  glass  windows  at  the  sides  and  in 
front.  The  leather  covering  was  rusty,  and  cracked,  and 
creased;  and  the  blue  lining  on  the  inside  faded,  ragged, 
and  dirty.  It  had  a  green  body  and  yellow  wheels.  The 
body  was  shallow,  and  the  front  seat  low.  The  wheels 
were  ramshackle  and  of  questionable  solidity.  It  was  once, 
perhaps,  what  may  have  been  called  a  "  calash  ";  but  it 
had  been  worn,  and  torn,  and  broken,  and  painted,  and 
patched,  and  mended,  and  nailed  together,  and  tied  up, 
until  one  might  have  called  it  anything  he  liked.     A  very 


ON    THE    ROAD    TO    THE    COAST        337 

appropriate  name  would  have  been  the  "  Immortal  " — one 
given  by  Sydney  Smith  to  his  ancient  chariot  at  which, 
whenever  they  saw  it,  all  the  village  boys  cheered  and  all 
the  village  dogs  barked. 

When  our  two  horses,  the  big  one  and  the  little  one,  the 
gray  mare  and  the  chestnut  horse,  were  matched  and  har- 
nessed to  this  carriage,  and  all  the  necessary  strings  and 
ropes  had  been  attached  to  the  harness,  the  "  outfit  "  closely 
resembled  one  of  those  perambulating  conveyances  occa- 
sionally met  with  in  the  byways  of  France,  the  property  of 
some  family  of  prosperous  gipsies.  It  was  in  this  vehicle, 
with  M.  Ernest  Everard  for  driver,  that  we  continued  our 
journey,  after  a  stop  at  Pacy  lasting  quite  an  hour. 

During  this  time  not  a  person  came  near  us,  and  the 
Everards  had  certainly  not  the  least  suspicion  that  we  were 
other  than  what  they  had  at  first  taken  us  to  be,  "  des 
Americains,"  or  "  des  milords  Anglais,"  traveling  for  our 
pleasure. 

It  was  with  some  difficulty  that  we  succeeded  in  helping 
her  Majesty  and  Madame  Lebreton  into  this  carriage;  and 
Dr.  Crane  having  got  in  I — seeing  it  was  too  small  to  carry 
four  persons  inside  comfortably — took  a  seat  by  the  side 
of  the  driver,  thinking  also  that  I  might  have  a  little  talk 
with  him  and  see  and  hear  something  of  the  country;  but 
while  we  jogged  along  over  a  road  as  smooth  as  a  floor,  like 
nil  the  great  highways  of  France,  our  carriage  so  rattled 
and  creaked  that  it  was  often  quite  difficult  to  hear  what 
was  said,  and  painful  even  to  speak.  The  air,  however, 
was  delicious,  and  the  wide  stretches  of  cultivated  country 
through  which  we  were  traveling  furnished  an  ever-chan- 
ging and  pleasing  prospect. 

Nevertheless,  there  were  moments  during  my  enforced 
silence  when  not  a  soul  was  to  bo  seen  on  the  long  straight 
white  road,  and  the  absence  of  all  life  and  movement  in  the 
landscape,  sharply  defined  in  the  bright  sunlight,  produced 
in  me  a  strange  sense  of  the  unreality  of  this  enchanting 


338         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

and  very  peaceful  visible  world.  I  could  not  understand 
how  such  great  events  in  human  affairs  as  had  happened, 
only  the  day  before,  could  have  occurred  without  leaving  a 
trace  of  disturbance  upon  the  face  of  things,  so  near  and 
so  closely  related  to  them.  There  was  a  mystery,  something 
uncanny  even  about  it  all.  It  seemed  to  me  that  what  I 
saw  with  my  eyes  had  no  history — was  an  appearance  with- 
out substance ;  that  this  peace  of  things  was  an  illusion  and 
a  mockery;  and  that  my  own  thoughts  and  emotions  and 
the  rattling  of  the  green  body  and  the  yellow  wheels  of  the 
calash  were  the  only  realities  I  was  certain  about  and  which 
immediately  concerned  me ;  for  I  felt  it  was  these  that 
bound  me  as  with  bands  of  steel  to  an  invisible  but  real 
world  of  Revolution,  violence,  and  peril,  from  which  I  was 
striving,  perhaps  vainly,  to  make  my  escape. 

Occasionally,  on  coming  to  some  long  ascent  among  the 
chalk  hills  that  form  the  solid  framework  of  Normandy,  and 
give  to  this  land  its  picturesque  outlines,  Dr.  Crane  and  I 
got  down  and  walked  on  ahead  of  the  carriage,  which  fol- 
lowed slowly  after.  And  sometimes,  too,  our  conversation 
drifted  far  away  from  the  subjects  of  our  immediate 
interest.  It  certainly  did  in  one  instance  that  I  well  re- 
member. As  our  road  wound  its  way  up  by  the  side  of 
a  deep,  white  cutting,  the  geological  history  of  the  so-called 
Rouen  chalk-formation  having  been  referred  to  by  the 
doctor,  he  went  on  to  speak  of  the  immense  extent  and 
power  of  life  in  the  sea ;  and  finally  remarked  that  Nature 
seemed  to  be  so  determined  to  accomplish  what  she  pro- 
posed to  do  when  she  set  to  work  about  it,  that  she  was 
apparently  very  apt  to  largely  overdo  it.  To  which  I  re- 
plied that  I  did  not  know  whether  his  generalization  was 
really  justified  by  the  facts  or  not,  but  that  I  was  quite 
willing  to  admit — speaking  professionally — that  the  stock 
of  tooth-powder  she  had  so  carefully  prepared  and  stored 
up  in  these  hills  did  seem  to  me  to  be  prodigiously  in  excess 
of  any  possible  necessity  or  any  probable  demand.     I  do 


p 

-J 

P 


> 


« 

J 


£3 


ON    THE    ROAD    TO    THE    COAST        339 

not  recollect  the  doctor's  reply;  perhaps  the  carriage  just 
then  overtook  us,  and  we  were  both  suddenly  reminded 
of  the  serious  business  we  were  at  the  time  engaged  in,  and 
of  our  responsibilities.  I  shall  never  forget,  however,  his 
look  of  surprise  at  what  he  doubtless  thought  was  a  highly 
indiscreet  and  unprofessional  admission. 

We  were  now  approaching  Evreux,  a  large  town  with 
a  population  of  nearly  twenty  thousand  souls;  and  we 
feared  there  might  be  some  popular  manifestation  in  prog- 
ress in  the  place,  which  we  could  not  well  avoid,  and  that 
the  rather  outlandish  appearance  of  our  equipage  might 
make  us  the  objects  of  a  disagreeable,  if  not  dangerous, 
curiosity.  We  accordingly  directed  our  driver  to  pass 
through  the  town  without  stopping,  and  to  rest  his  horses, 
if  necessary,  in  the  suburbs.  This  he  did;  although,  on 
entering  it,  we  found  the  place  perfectly  quiet — as  dead, 
I  may  say,  as  a  French  provincial  town  usually  is,  the 
inhabitants  of  which  rarely  show  signs  of  life  except  at  a 
fair  or  a  fire.  We  learned  afterward  that  the  Mayor  had 
read  a  proclamation,  and  that  a  review  of  the  Gardes  Mo- 
biles had  been  held  in  the  market-place  not  long  before  we 
arrived. 

It  was  about  five  o'clock  when  we  came  to  a  place  called 
Cambolle,  situated  hardly  more  than  half  a  mile  beyond 
Evreux,  on  the  road  to  Lisieux.  There,  in  the  Avenue  de 
Cambolle,  which  was  lined  with  beautiful  elm-trees,  we 
saw,  in  the  shadow  of  the  foliage,  a  small  wine-shop  called 
the  "  Cafe  Cantilope  ";  and  our  driver  now  insisted  upon 
making  a  halt,  in  order  to  feed  and  water  the  horses.  We 
therefore  stopped  here,  our  carriage  standing  almost  in  the 
middle  of  the  road.  Availing  myself  of  the  opportunity, 
I  got  down  from  my  seat,  and  after  walking  about  for  a 
few  minutes,  went  into  the  cafe.  While  Madame  Canti- 
lope and  her  husband,  the  proprietor  of  the  shop,  were 
serving  me,  I  heard  a  vague,  confused  sound  outside,  which 
gradually  became  more  and  more  distinct,  and  the  cause 


340         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

of  which  appeared  to  be  approaching.  I  listened  anxiously, 
for  the  noise  was  like  that  produced  by  a  great  number  of 
human  voices;  and  under  the  circumstances  the  presence 
of  a  crowd,  whoever  they  might  be,  was  very  undesirable. 

Nearer  and  nearer  came  the  sounds;  and  soon,  to  my 
horror,  I  heard  very  plainly  the  cries,  "  Vive  la  France!  ' 
"  Vive  la  Republique!  "  repeated  by  a  hundred  voices, 
while  at  the  same  time  I  recognized  the  notes  of  the 
"  Marseillaise."  My  companions,  whom  I  at  once  rejoined, 
thought,  perhaps,  that  our  departure  from  Paris  had  be- 
came known  and  that  we  were  pursued.  None  of  us  spoke 
a  word,  but  from  the  expression  on  the  faces  of  the  ladies 
it  was  plainly  perceptible  that  they  were  very  uncomfort- 
able. 

Only  for  a  few  minutes,  fortunately,  did  this  state  of 
trepidation  last.  Great  was  our  relief  when  we  found  that 
our  fear  was  groundless.  The  noisy  persons  who  had  given 
us  so  much  uneasiness  were  only  companies  of  Gardes 
Mobiles,  who,  returning  from  the  review  in  Evreux,  were 
going  to  some  neighboring  village.  Several  wagons  full  of 
them  passed  us  while  we  were  stopping  here,  and  full 
themselves  of  wine  and  new-born  patriotism,  they  lifted 
their  hats  and  saluted  us,  with  exclamations  of  ' :  Vive  la 
Republique!  " 

But  was  our  fear  groundless?  More  than  once  during 
the  day  we  had  been  reminded  that  history  was  repeating 
itself,  by  a  member  of  our  party  who  was  well  acquainted 
with  the  history  of  France,  and  who  knew  by  heart  the 
tragic  story  of  Marie  Antoinette. 

She  could  not  have  forgotten  that  this  unhappy  Queen 
also  fled  from  the  Tuileries ;  and  that,  disguised,  and  in  the 
darkness  of  the  night  eluding  the  sentries,  she,  with  the 
King,  and  their  children,  and  Madame  Elizabeth,  having 
squeezed  themselves  into  an  old  coach  that  was  waiting  for 
them  in  the  Place  du  Carrousel,  were  then  driven  through 
the  Clichy  gate  to  Bondy;  and  that,  after  changing  car- 


ON    THE    ROAD    TO    THE    COAST        341 

riages,  they  continued  on  their  way,  embracing  each  other 
with  tears  of  joy,  happy  to  feel  and  to  think,  in  the  light 
of  the  splendid  June  morning,  that  they  had  escaped  from 
their  ignoble  persecutors;  and  how  all  went  well  with  the 
royal  family  until  they  had  gone  some  eighty  miles — just 
about  as  far  from  Paris  to  the  east  as  we  then  were  to  the 
west — when  the  son  of  a  postmaster,  recognizing  the  King, 
determined  to  have  him  arrested ;  and  that  overhearing  the 
order  given  to  the  postilions  to  drive  on  to  Varennes,  he 
sprang  upon  a  horse,  and  riding  furiously  in  advance,  in- 
formed the  Procureur  of  the  Commune  of  the  King's  flight; 
and  how,  on  the  arrival  of  the  royal  party  late  at  night  at 
Varennes,  they  were  arrested.  Nor  could  she  have  forgot- 
ten how,  a  day  or  two  afterward,  they  were  all  packed  into 
the  same  coach  again,  and,  escorted  by  a  detachment  of  the 
National  Guard,  were  taken  back  to  Paris,  arriving  at  the 
barriere  de  I'Etoile  after  twelve  hours  of  continuous  travel, 
and  forced  to  keep  their  seats  in  a  closed  carriage,  on  one  of 
the  hottest  days  of  the  year;  nor  that,  when  near  the  end 
of  this  terrible  journey,  exhausted  by  fatigue  and  overcome 
by  the  heat,  the  poor  mother,  wiping  the  perspiration  from 
the  forehead  of  the  little  dauphin,  said  to  one  of  her  guards  : 
"  See  the  condition  my  children  are  in — they  are  suffo- 
cating," she  received  the  brutal  answer,  "  We  will  suffo- 
cate you  in  another  way  ' ' ;  nor  how,  between  a  double 
row  of  National  Guards,  the  carriage  proceeded  down  the 
Champs  Elysees,  the  immense  crowd  gathered  together 
on  either  side  of  the  way  jeering  and  hooting,  and  insulting 
the  Queen — the  " Autrichiennc  " — in  every  possible  way, 
until,  turning  into  the  Garden  of  the  Tuileries,  it  stopped 
before  the  Pavilion  de  l'Horloge,  and  Louis  XVI.  and 
Marie  Antoinette  entered  the  palace  as  prisoners  of  State. 
And  afterward — that  scene  on  the  Place  de  la  Concorde, 
where  the  Obelisk  now  stands !  Was  my  fear  groundless  ? 
Had  not  the  Empress  reason  to  be  alarmed? 

From    Cambolle   our   road    went   through    a   beautiful 


342         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

stretch  of  country,  the  hills  on  the  right  side  of  the  way 
being  covered  with  rich  vegetation,  while  on  the  left  fertile 
meadows  extended  far  into  the  distance. 

The  sun  was  now  sinking,  and  the  approach  of  evening 
was  indicated  by  the  lengthening  shadows  of  the  elm-trees. 
The  poor  horses,  which  had  kept  up  so  far  notwithstanding 
the  long  drive  and  the  hard  labor  that  had  been  exacted 
from  one  of  them  before  it  was  put  in  front  of  our  calash, 
began  to  show  signs  of  exhaustion ;  and  M.  Ernest  Everard 
told  me  that  he  could  not  drive  us  beyond  La  Command- 
erie,  a  small  village  on  the  road,  where  we  might  have  a 
chance  to  get  a  fresh  pair  of  horses,  for  his  would  not  be 
able  to  go  any  farther. 

We  reached  La  Commanderie  just  before  sunset,  and 
drove  into  the  yard  of  the  old  post-house,  on  the  left-hand 
side  of  the  route  Imperiale.  The  owner  was  a  rich,  well- 
to-do  farmer,  Avho  took  more  pride,  however,  in  his  fine 
cattle  and  large  and  well-filled  barns  than  in  the  appear- 
ance of  the  house  he  lived  in  and  that  of  the  yard  behind 
it.  As  several  years  before  he  had  given  up  the  business  of 
furnishing  relays  of  horses  to  travelers,  we  had  some  diffi- 
culty in  getting  him  to  consent  to  take  us  on  to  the  next 
station,  La  Riviere  de  Thibouville.  It  is  quite  likely  that 
he  may  have  suspected  we  were  fugitives  of  some  sort — we 
were  so  anxious  to  proceed.  He  had  a  pair  of  fine  horses, 
he  said,  and  would  be  glad  to  accommodate  us,  but  he  had 
no  carriage.  We  succeeded,  however,  in  disposing  of  this 
difficulty,  by  persuading,  by  means  of  a  substantial  gratu- 
ity, the  man  who  had  brought  us  from  Pacy  to  lend  us  his 
carriage.  As  the  farmer  had  no  longer  a  plausible  excuse, 
and  had  been  stimulated  into  taking  an  interest  in  execu- 
ting our  wishes  by  the  prospect  of  an  ample  reward  for  his 
services,  he  at  last  consented  to  drive  us  to  the  next  station. 

Having  settled  this  matter,  Dr.  Crane  and  I  went  to  a 
wine-shop  across  the  way,  and  a  piece  of  bread  and  cheese 
with  a  bottle  of  sour  wine  we  obtained  there  seemed  to  us  a 


w 
J. 
J. 

M 
> 

o 

S3 
i— i 

w 

H 
O 


•««) 

J 


w 
1-5 

c 

x 

a 
-: 


ON    THE    ROAD    TO    THE    COAST        343 

royal  lunch  indeed.  Madame  Lebreton,  in  the  meantime, 
succeeded  in  getting  some  coffee  made  in  the  kitchen  of  the 
post-house  for  the  Empress  and  herself.  The  Empress, 
however,  did  not  leave  the  carriage,  but  kept  her  seat, 
while  we  were  doing  our  talking  or  trying  to  get  something 
to  eat,  and  the  horses  were  being  changed. 

We  remained  here  more  than  an  hour,  and  it  had  become 
quite  dark  before  we  started  on  our  way  again.  We  had 
not  gone  very  far,  however,  before  an  accident  occurred. 
The  rickety  old  calash  was  not  strong  enough  to  resist  the 
pull  of  our  fresh,  vigorous  Norman  horses;  and  so  it  came 
to  pass  that,  as  we  were  rolling  along  at  a  rattling  rate, 
crack!  went  a  whiffletree,  and  we  were  brought  suddenly 
to  a  standstill,  with  the  traces  dangling  about  the  heels  of 
one  of  the  horses.  Our  driver  now  wanted  to  go  back.  He 
said  he  could  not  go  on ;  that  he  could  not  repair  the  break 
where  we  were,  for  he  could  not  see  to  do  it,  and  had  noth- 
ing to  do  it  with,  and  did  not  know  how  to  do  it,  and  so 
forth.  In  all  of  which  discourse  the  only  thing  made  quite 
certain  was  that  he  did  not  wish  to  proceed  any  farther. 
He  seemed,  in  fact,  rather  too  anxious  to  have  us  return 
to  the  old  post-house  and  spend  the  night  with  him. 

Beginning  to  suspect  the  man  had  in  mind  some  dark 
design — that  perhaps  this  accident  entered  into  his  scheme 
— Dr.  Crane  and  I  got  down  to  investigate  the  case  and  find 
out  for  ourselves  what  had  really  happened,  and  what  could 
or  could  not  be  done  in  the  way  of  repairs.  We  soon  dis- 
covered that  if  we  only  had  a  piece  of  rope,  or  some  twine, 
we  could  so  fasten  the  traces  as  to  be  able  to  continue  on 
our  way.  But  where  were  we  to  get  cither?  We  were  half 
a  mile  from  any  house.  What  was  to  be  done?  The  driver, 
the  prosperous  owner  of  the  horses,  insisted  on  returning. 
But  this  we  were  determined  not  to  do  if  we  could  prevent 
it.  Noticing  that  there  was  a  box  under  the  front  seat,  we 
opened  it,  and,  as  luck  would  have  it,  found  there  just  what 
we  wanted — a  piece  of  cord,  an  old  halter  I  think  it  was, 


344         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

eight  or  ten  feet  long.  With  this  we  lashed  the  whiffletree 
firmly  to  the  cross-bar.  Then,  taking  my  seat  by  the  side  of 
the  driver,  off  we  started  again.  This  accident  delayed  us 
about  half  an  hour.  While  riding  with  the  driver,  I  had 
with  him  sufficient  conversation  to  convince  me  that  my 
suspicions  with  regard  to  his  motive  when  advising  us  to 
return  to  the  post-house  were  not  well-founded.  I  am  now 
quite  sure  that  he  gave  us  what,  from  his  point  of  view, 
was  very  sensible  advice,  and  what,  perhaps,  ought  to 
have  been  considered  at  the  time  as  sensible  advice  from 
any  point  of  view. 

It  was  nearly  ten  o'clock  when  we  arrived  at  La  Ri- 
viere de  Thibouville,  a  town  in  the  valley  of  the  Risle, 
about  a  hundred  miles  from  Paris.  We  stopped  on  the 
outskirts  of  the  hamlet,  in  front  of  an  auberge,  or  small 
tavern,  on  our  left,  and  at  the  foot  of  a  pine-clad  slope, 
down  which  the  road  descends  into  the  valley.  Alighting 
from  the  carriage,  I  approached  the  house,  and  the  door 
standing  wide  open,  I  saw,  within,  a  large  room  where  a 
bright  fire  was  blazing  in  a  big  fireplace  at  the  right.  Over 
the  fire  some  pots  and  kettles  were  hanging  on  long  hooks, 
and  attending  to  them  were  one  or  two  women.  On  enter- 
ing this  room  I  saw  in  an  adjoining  one  several  men,  ap- 
parently of  the  peasant  class,  seated  at  a  rough  table,  eating 
and  drinking.  But  I  had  little  time  to  notice,  and  still 
less  to  appreciate,  the  rusticity  of  the  place,  for  almost 
immediately  the  proprietress  of  the  establishment — Madame 
Desrats,  a  rather  corpulent,  light-complexioned  woman  of 
about  forty — came  forward  to  learn  what  was  wanted  by 
us,  the  newcomers. 

I  told  her  that  we  wished  to  get  a  conveyance  to  take 
us,  a  party  of  four,  on  to  Lisieux  that  night.  Her  reply 
was  that  no  carriage  of  the  kind  we  required  could  be  ob- 
tained in  the  place  for  such  a  journey;  nor  could  such  a 
carriage  be  got  without  sending  to  Bernay  for  it,  a  town 


ON    THE    ROAD    TO    THE    COAST        345 

ten  miles  distant.  This  information  I  was  wholly  unpre- 
pared for,  and  I  was  much  disturbed  by  it,  as  it  greatly 
interfered  with  our  plans.  Evidently  we  had  come  to  the 
end  of  our  day's  journey,  and  it  would  be  necessary  for  us 
to  pass  the  night  where  we  were.  How  we  were  going  to 
do  this  soon  became  a  very  serious  question,  since  Madame 
Desrats,  on  further  inquiry,  informed  me  that  she  could 
not  furnish  us  with  lodgings,  for  every  room  in  the  house 
was  occupied.  She  was  very  sorry,  she  said,  and  the  more 
so  because  she  was  sure  there  was  no  other  place  in  the 
village  where  we  could  find  accommodation  for  the  night. 
As  the  man  who  had  brought  us  must  return  to  La  Com- 
manderie  after  resting  his  horses,  it  seemed  for  a  time  as 
if,  at  the  end  of  a  fatiguing  carriage  journey  of  nearly  a 
hundred  miles,  we  were  to  be  left,  late  in  the  night,  under 
the  stars,  in  the  middle  of  the  road.  But  I  have  observed 
that  pretty  nearly  everywhere  in  the  world  it  is  possible 
to  obtain  the  cooperation  of  others  when  it  may  be  required ; 
in  fact,  what  is  wanted,  if  one  only  sets  about  it  in  the 
right  way  and  employs  the  right  means,  and  especially 
sufficient  means. 

This  rude  hostelry  in  the  suburbs  of  La  Riviere,  as  I 
afterward  discovered,  was  a  small,  long,  low,  stuccoed 
house,  behind  which  was  a  dirty  yard,  shut  in  by  a  number 
of  ill-conditioned  outbuildings.  Over  the  front  doorway 
hung  and  swung  a  rather  large  sign-board,  on  which  had 
been  painted  the  now  faded  image  of  the  sun,  the  original 
appearance  of  which  was  presumed  to  be  represented  by 
the  words  inscribed  on  the  sign,  "  Le  Soleil  d'Or."  As 
I  have  already  stated,  the  front  door  opened  directly  from 
the  street  into  the  principal  apartment,  which  served  the 
double  purpose  of  parlor  and  kitchen.  Beyond  this,  to 
the  right,  there  was  a  public  room  or  kind  of  bar,  where 
wine  and  beer,  and  other  drinks,  were  dispensed,  princi- 
pally to  passing  teamsters  and  laborers  in  the  neighboring 
fields.    On  the  left,  a  door  opened  into  a  small  room  used 


346         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

as  a  private  dining-room;  near  this  door  was  another,  at 
the  foot  of  a  flight  of  stairs  leading  to  the  floor  above.  On 
this  upper  floor  there  were  three  or  four  chambers ;  one  was 
over  the  dining-room  just  mentioned;  and  there  was  an- 
other, to  the  right,  beyond  the  kitchen,  and  over  a  passage- 
way that  led  into  the  court-yard  in  the  rear.  These  two 
chambers  were  the  only  ones  let  to  lodgers,  and  they  had 
both  just  been  taken,  as  we  learned,  by  an  English  coach- 
man and  his  family,  who,  on  their  way  to  Trouville,  had 
stopped  here  for  the  night. 

Finding  Madame  Desrats's  accommodations  for  addi- 
tional guests  were  so  limited  that  she  was  really  unable  to 
do  anything  more  than  to  extemporize  for  us  some  beds  on 
the  floor,  either  above  or  below — which  she  offered  to  do — 
I  asked  to  see  the  coachman,  who  had  already  gone  to  his 
room. 

He  came  down  soon,  and  I  laid  our  case  before  him.  I 
told  him  I  was  taking  my  sister,  who  was  an  invalid,  to 
the  seaside;  that  she  was  attended  by  her  physician  and 
a  nurse ;  that  we  were  disappointed  on  reaching  this  place 
at  not  being  able  to  continue  our  journey  to  Lisieux,  where 
we  had  intended  to  pass  the  night ;  that  we  should  be  com- 
pelled to  stay  here;  that  my  sister's  present  and  most  dis- 
tressing situation  was  causing  me  intense  anxiety ;  that  we 
were  informed  he  had  engaged  the  only  sleeping-rooms  in 
the  house ;  and,  finally,  that  we  were  willing  to  pay  a  round 
sum  for  the  use,  for  this  one  night,  of  the  rooms  in  question. 
The  man  ' '  executed  himself, ' '  as  the  French  say,  promptly 
and  very  graciously ;  for  he  assured  me,  while  accepting  his 
compensation,  that  he  was  induced  to  give  up  the  rooms 
by  a  feeling  of  the  deepest  sympathy  for  ' '  the  poor  lady  ' ' 
in  the  carriage.  However  this  may  have  been,  we  got  what 
we  wanted,  and  it  was  not  long  before  the  chamber  over 
the  passageway  was  made  ready  for  the  Empress  and 
Madame  Lebreton. 

Dr.  Crane  and  I  then  proceeded  to  assist  the  invalid  to 


ON    THE    ROAD    TO    THE    COAST        347 

descend  from  the  calash,  which  having  been  effected  with 
no  little  difficulty,  she  took  Dr.  Crane's  arm  and  walked  to 
the  door,  slightly  limping,  I  going  before  and  Madame 
Lebreton  following.  In  this  order  we  entered  the  public 
room,  in  which  there  were  at  the  time  several  persons,  some 
drinking  and  some  at  work.  Screening  the  Empress  from 
observation  as  much  as  possible,  I  opened  the  door  of  the 
staircase,  which  Dr.  Crane  and  his  patient  ascended  slowly 
and  with  some  difficulty — not  simulated  this  time,  for  it 
was  dark  and  the  steps  were  very  narrow  and  very  steep. 
On  reaching  the  chamber  selected  for  her,  the  Empress 
dropped  into  a  chair,  and,  surveying  the  room  and  its  rough, 
scanty  contents  with  a  rapid  glance,  burst  out  laughing. 
She  made  no  attempt  to  suppress  this  eclat.  I  do  not  think 
she  could  help  it.  She  did  not  even  try  to  excuse  it ;  unless 
the  remark  made  by  her,  which  an  American  girl  might 
translate,  "  This  is  really  too  funny  for  anything!  '  be 
considered  as  an  excuse. 

"  Oh,  mon  Dieu!  mon  Dieu,  madame!  "  exclaimed 
Madame  Lebreton  as  she  stepped  into  the  room,  "  how 
can  you  laugh  in  this  sad  situation1?  Mon  Dieu!  mon  Dieu! 
And  everybody  is  watching  us,  and  there  are  people  in  the 
next  room  who  may  overhear  you !  ' ' — and  doubtless  did, 
for  that  matter,  as  the  partition,  and  the  door  separating 
the  rooms,  were  of  the  flimsiest  construction.  '  I  beg  you, 
madame,  not  to  laugh — not  to  speak,  even,  lest  we  betray 
ourselves.  And  after  you  have  had  some  supper,  which  has 
been  ordered,  you  must  rest,  for  you  are  very  nervous  after 
this  awful  journey!  "  The  Empress  recognized  that  she 
had,  perhaps,  been  a  little  imprudent  in  yielding  to  an  emo- 
tional impulse,  and  in  an  amiable  spirit  of  contrition,  I 
have  no  doubt,  would  now  have  been  perfectly  willing,  could 
it  have  helped  matters  in  the  least,  to  try  to  look  as  solemn, 
and  take  as  serious  a  view  of  the  situation,  as  did  Madame 
Lebreton  herself. 

Dr.   Crane   and   I   now   returned   to  the  kitchen,   and 


348         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

ordered  a  dinner  to  be  served  to  us  in  the  private  dining- 
room. 

While  this  dinner  was  being  prepared,  we  looked  about 
the  place,  studied  the  people,  overheard  their  talk,  and  even 
entered  into  conversation  with  them.  They  seemed  to  be 
strangely  indifferent  to  the  great  military  and  political 
events  of  the  preceding  week.  The  crops,  the  weather, 
their  own  private  affairs,  were  what  chiefly  concerned  them. 
They  appeared  to  care  very  little  even  to  know  what 
was  going  on  in  Paris,  except  as  it  might  favor  or  prej- 
udice their  personal  interests.  They  were  representative 
French  country  people,  thrifty  but  earthy.  Among  them 
was  the  man  who  drove  us  over  from  La  Commanderie,  and 
who  had  told  me,  while  on  the  way,  that  he  was  worth  two 
hundred  thousand  francs.  This  property  he  had  acquired 
by  forty  years'  hard  labor,  with  pinching  economy — an 
economy  that  would  amaze  a  New  England  farmer.  He 
had  but  one  object  in  life,  and  that  was  to  make  money. 
Yes,  he  had  another  and  a  more  worthy  one :  it  was  to  pro- 
vide a  dot — a  marriage-portion — for  his  daughter.  It 
was  not  the  money  itself  that  he  wanted;  it  was  the  use 
to  which  it  was  to  be  put  that  made  it  desirable  to  him,  and 
for  which  he  was  willing  to  toil,  and  live  poorly,  and  to 
hoard.  And  it  is  this  strong  desire  which  most  French- 
men have  to  look  after  the  future  of  the  family,  and  to 
provide  more  particularly  for  its  dependent  members,  that 
ennobles  the  parsimony  of  these  peasants,  and  elevates  the 
thrift  of  the  common  people  of  France  to  the  dignity  of 
a  national  virtue. 

Our  dinner  was  excellent,  and  so  was  the  sauce — the 
appetite — that  went  with  it,  for  we  had  had  really  noth- 
ing to  eat  but  bits  of  bread  for  more  than  twenty-four 
hours.  We  sat  for  a  while  over  our  coffee  and  cigars, 
talking  of  the  incidents  of  the  day  and  the  contingencies 
of  the  morrow.  It  was  one  o'clock  before  we  went  up 
to  our  room.     An  hour  or  two  later,  when  we  both  were 


ON    THE    ROAD    TO    THE    COAST        349 

sound  asleep,  we  were  aroused  by  a  great  racket  outside 
— the  clatter  of  horses'  hoofs,  followed  by  loud  talking, 
and,  finally,  by  pounding  on  the  door  almost  directly  under 
our  window.  Our  first  thought  was  that  the  escape  of  the 
Empress  from  Paris  had  been  discovered,  that  an  order 
had  been  issued  to  arrest  her,  and  that  a  squad  of  gen- 
darmes had  ridden  up  here  to  execute  the  order.  We 
opened  our  window  very  carefully,  and  cautiously  peeped 
out.  But  the  night  was  dark,  and  we  could  not  see  the 
mounted  men  with  sufficient  distinctness  to  tell  who  or 
what  they  were.  Indeed,  it  was  some  time  before  we 
learned  from  the  words  passing  between  them,  which  we 
overheard,  that  they  were  not  searching  for  us.  As  this 
was  all  we  cared  to  know  about  them  at  the  moment,  we 
went  back  to  bed  and  slept  soundly  till  morning.  We  then 
were  told  that  the  party  that  had  disturbed  us  in  the  night 
were  some  gamekeepers  who  had  been  scouring  the  neigh- 
borhood looking  for  poachers. 

Dr.  Crane  and  I  got  up  early,  as  we  wished  to  send  to 
Bernay  for  a  carriage.  When  we  spoke  to  our  hostess  about 
this,  she  stared  at  us,  and  seemed  to  think  it  was  a  very 
singular  thing  to  do — to  send  some  one  ten  miles  away  to 
find  a  carriage,  when  it  would  be  so  much  easier  for  us  to 
go  to  Trouville  by  the  railway,  and  the  station  was  only 
a  mile  off.  I  think  she  would  have  thought  we  were  all 
mad,  had  she  not  believed  we  were  English — "  et  les  An- 
glais sont  tellement  drolcs."  We  tried  to  explain  to  her 
that  the  lady  with  us  was  ill,  that  she  disliked  very  much 
to  travel  by  railways,  and  that  it  would  be  as  impossible 
for  her  to  walk  one  mile  as  ten.  To  this  she  replied  that 
she  did  not  see  why  the  lady  might  not  be  taken  to  the 
station  in  the  cabriolet ;  the  rest  of  us  could  certainly  walk. 

The  cabriolet  referred  to  by  Madame  Desrats  was  a 

two-wheeled,  high-seated,  gig-like  contrivance  in  the  back 

yard,  an  inspection  of  which  at  once  suggested  to  me  the 

probable  appearance  of  the  deacon's  "  wonderful  one-hoss 

24 


350         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

shay,"  at  the  critical  period  of  its  existence — its  grand 
climacteric,  so  to  speak — when  it  was  in  a  state  of  equiva- 
lent decay  in  each  of  its  several  parts  and  articulations; 
and  its  complete  collapse  into  disjecta  membra  and  dust 
might  reasonably  be  expected  at  any  moment.  Taking  it 
altogether  as  it  stood,  this  cabriolet  was  a  curiosity  quite 
worthy  of  a  place  in  a  museum  of  vehicular  antiquities. 

While  we  were  considering  what  we  should  do,  rain 
began  to  fall,  and  with  every  appearance  of  continuing  for 
some  time. 

We  were  reluctant  to  make  use  of  the  railway;  but  it 
would  take  some  hours  to  bring  a  carriage  from  Bernay, 
and  we  were  anxious  to  proceed  on  our  way  without  delay. 

La  Riviere  is  on  a  branch  railway  connecting  the  Paris- 
Havre  with  the  Paris-Cherbourg  line  at  Serquigny,  a  sta- 
tion less  than  three  miles  distant.  Lisieux,  the  chief  town 
in  the  department  of  Calvados,  is  on  the  Paris-Cherbourg 
railway,  fifteen  miles  west  of  this  junction.  There  we 
could  get  a  carriage  to  take  us  to  our  destination — Deau- 
ville,  about  eighteen  miles  beyond.  We  found  that,  by 
taking  a  train  due  at  La  Riviere  at  five  minutes  past  eight 
o'clock,  we  could  meet  the  Paris- Cherbourg  express  at 
Serquigny  a  few  minutes  later,  and  reach  Lisieux  at  twenty 
minutes  past  nine  o'clock.  An  hour  by  railway  would  help 
us  forward  greatly,  and  we  concluded  that  we  would  accept 
the  additional  risk  of  discovery  it  might  involve,  rather 
than  be  kept  waiting  at  La  Riviere.  But  how  was  the 
Empress  to  get  to  the  railway  station  ?  We  had  rejected  the 
vehicle  proposed  by  our  hostess,  for,  if  not  absolutely  dan- 
gerous, its  oddity  would  attract  too  much  attention.  The 
Empress  had  certainly  better  walk;  and  she  could  do  this 
perfectly  well,  but  for  the  invalidism  upon  which  we  had 
been  laying  such  stress.  We  had  about  made  up  our 
minds  to  discover  that  our  patient,  to  our  surprise  and 
great  delight,  had  so  wonderfully  improved  during  the 
night  as  to  feel  confident  she  could  walk  to  the  station, 


ON    THE    ROAD    TO    THE    COAST        351 

going  slowly  and  with  a  little  help,  when  a  carriage  drove 
up  before  the  door  of  the  auberge.  A  gentleman  got  out, 
and,  coming  into  the  house,  sat  down  near  the  fire  while  his 
horses  were  resting.  He  had  left  Bernay  that  morning. 
I  noticed  he  was  alone,  and  that  his  carriage,  a  closed  one, 
was  large  enough  to  carry  our  party  easily.  I  thought  it 
might  be  worth  my  while  to  make  the  acquaintance  of  this 
man.  And  so,  in  a  very  unsophisticated  sort  of  way,  I 
fell  into  conversation  with  him.  I  found  him  an  amiable, 
very  intelligent,  and  extremely  interesting  man.  We  spoke 
of  many  things,  but  agreed  in  everything.  I  myself,  quite 
naturally,  was  in  a  most  agreeable  mood.  After  a  while  I 
mustered  up  sufficient  courage  to  repeat  to  him  the  story 
of  the  invalid  sister,  which  had  proved  to  be  an  "  open 
sesame  '  all  along  the  road,  and  to  remark,  quite  inci- 
dentally, that  as  we  could  get  no  carriage  to  take  us  to 
the  railwaj'  station  I  greatly  feared  the  walk  might  over- 
tax "  my  sister's  "  strength. 

"  Oh,"  said  he,  "  my  carriage  is  quite  at  your  disposal. 
I  shall  be  most  happy  to  be  of  service  to  the  lady.  It  is 
really  too  far  to  the  railway  station  for  a  lady  who  is  ill  or 
an  invalid  to  think  of  walking,  and  especially  when  it  is 
raining,  as  it  now  does." 

I  thanked  my  new  acquaintance  effusively  for  his  gen- 
erous offer,  which  of  course  I  could  not  decline.  Greatly 
relieved  in  mind,  I  immediately  reported  to  the  Empress 
and  Madame  Lebreton  that  we  had  found  it  necessary  to  go 
to  Lisieux  by  the  railway;  and  also  that  a  carriage  was  at 
the  door  to  take  them  to  the  La  Riviere  station,  as  soon  as 
they  could  get  ready  to  go.  In  a  very  few  minutes  the 
Empress  descended  the  stairs,  assisted  by  Madame  Lebreton, 
but  walking  with  much  less  difficulty  than  on  the  evening 
before. 

I  observed  that  the  persons  in  the  public  room  through 
which  the  Empress  passed  had  the  courtesy  to  show  no  curi- 
osity to  see  her,  or  to  watch  our  movements  while  we  aided 


352         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

her  to  get  into  the  carriage.  The  gentleman  himself  who 
had  offered  us  the  use  of  his  carriage,  with  admirable  dis- 
cretion, perhaps  out  of  sympathy  for  the  invalid,  also  kept 
at  a  respectful  distance.  Having  thanked  him  again,  and 
especially  expressed  my  gratitude  on  behalf  of  "  my  sis- 
ter," I  mounted  upon  the  seat  by  the  side  of  his  coachman, 
and  we  drove  off  so  suddenly  that  I  fear  the  kind-hearted 
and  obliging  stranger  must  have  taken  her  Majesty  for  a 
very  impatient  patient. 

We  reached  the  station  some  time  before  the  train  was 
due,  and  were  the  only  persons  there,  except  the  station- 
master  and  a  ticket-agent.  When  the  train  arrived  we  took 
our  seats  in  a  compartment  which  we  saw  was  vacant,  and 
congratulated  ourselves  upon  our  good  fortune.  But  as 
the  "  chef  de  Gave,"  passing  along,  opened  the  door  of  the 
carriage,  and,  after  looking  in,  shut  it  with  a  bang,  the 
Empress  observed  on  his  hard  face  a  malicious  smile  and  a 
leer  which  alarmed  her.  She  felt  certain  she  had  been 
recognized.  I  did  not  notice  the  incident,  nor  did  the 
Empress  allude  to  it  when  it  occurred,  although  it  certainly 
produced  a  deep  impression  upon  her  mind  at  the  time ;  for 
when,  more  than  twenty  years  afterward,  she  related  to  me 
the  incident,  she  said,  "  I  shall  always  remember  the  look 
that  man  gave  me." 

We  arrived  at  Serquigny  just  as  the  Paris  express 
reached  the  junction.  I  hurried  across  the  platform,  and 
asked  the  guard  to  give  my  party  seats  where  we  could 
be  by  ourselves,  intimating  that  the  arrangement,  if  it  could 
be  made,  might  prove  as  pleasing  to  him  as  to  us.  He 
walked  down  the  platform  a  short  distance,  threw  open  a 
door  in  one  of  the  carriages,  and  said  to  me,  "  You  can 
have  these."  As  I  slipped  some  money  into  his  hand,  he 
informed  me  that  we  would  not  be  disturbed,  since  Lisieux 
was  the  next  stopping-place. 

On  arriving  at  Lisieux,  we  found  quite  a  number  of 
people  in  and  about  the  railway  station,  and  omnibuses  and 


ON    THE    ROAD    TO    THE    COAST        353 

carriages  were  standing  there,  ready  to  convey  passengers 
to  the  hotels  or  other  places  in  the  town.  We  could  make 
no  use  of  these  conveyances,  as  we  wished  to  avoid  coming 
in  contact  with  people  whenever  it  was  possible  to  do  so. 
We  therefore,  on  getting  off  the  train,  left  the  station  at 
once  on  foot. 

It  was  raining,  and  we  had  no  umbrellas.  The  morn- 
ing proved  to  be  gloomy,  miserable,  and  stormy.  After 
walking  some  distance,  I  said :  "  It  is  unnecessary  for  us  all 
to  go  into  the  town.  Let  me  go  on  alone.  I  will  find  a 
livery-stable  and  get  a  carriage,  and  come  back  and  pick 
you  up." 

Thereupon  I  left  the  party,  and  hurried  forward  in 
search  of  a  conveyance  to  take  us  to  Deauville.  I  had  to 
walk  very  far  before  I  came  into  any  streets  that  looked 
as  if  I  might  obtain  in  them  what  I  wanted.  I  called  at 
half  a  dozen  places  in  vain,  and  had  nearly  given  up  all 
hope,  when  at  length  I  found  a  person  who,  after  some  per- 
suasion, principally  in  the  form  of  a  promised  payment 
considerably  above  the  usual  rate,  agreed  to  drive  us  to 
Deauville.  The  time  during  which  he  was  preparing  his 
horses  seemed  to  me  endless,  when  I  thought  of  those  who 
were  waiting  for  me;  but  notwithstanding  my  efforts  to 
have  him  make  haste,  the  man  did  not  change  his  phleg- 
matic manner  in  the  least,  and  I  had  to  wait  until  he 
announced  that  he  was  ready  to  go. 

In  the  meantime,  the  Empress,  Madame  Lebreton,  and 
Dr.  Crane  had  followed  me  slowly,  until  it  began  to  rain 
very  heavily  when  they  stepped  in  under  the  porte 
cochere,  or  entrance,  of  an  establishment  where  carpets 
were  made,  on  the  left-hand  side  of  the  street.  Here  they 
remained  a  long  time ;  the  Empress  standing  in  the  door- 
way, scarcely  out  of  reach  of  the  dripping  from  the  build- 
ing, and  Madame  Lebreton  partly  sitting  on  and  partly 
leaning  against  a  bale  of  wool  in  the  passage  beyond.  After 
they  had  been  there  a  few  minutes,  a  young  man,  an  em- 


354         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

ployee,  came  out  of  the  establishment  with  a  chair,  which 
he  offered  to  the  Empress,  saying,  "  Perhaps  the  lady 
would  like  to  sit  down."  The  Empress  declined  to  take  the 
chair,  with  thanks ;  as  also  did  Madame  Lebreton  on  the 
chair  being  offered  to  her.  Madame  Lebreton,  however,  not 
only  expressed  her  appreciation  of  the  courtesy,  but  added, 
"  We  are  waiting  for  a  carriage  we  expect  here  every  mo- 
ment, and  feel  under  obligations  to  you  already  for  the 
liberty  we  have  taken  in  entering  within  your  doors." 

"  Oh,"  said  the  young  man,  "  that  is  a  liberty  which 
belongs  to  everybody  in  France  on  a  rainy  day ;  but  should 
your  carriage  not  come,  and  should  you  get  tired  of  stand- 
ing, if  you  will  come  into  the  office  we  shall  be  pleased  to 
give  you  all  seats." 

Madame  Lebreton  again  thanked  the  man  for  his 
civility. 

But  as  the  time  passed  and  I  did  not  return,  the  Em- 
press thought  perhaps  something  had  happened  to  me,  or 
that  there  might  have  been  some  misunderstanding  as  to 
where  we  were  to  meet.  She  remembered  also  the  sinister 
glance  of  the  eye  of  the  station-master  at  La  Riviere,  and 
it  began  to  trouble  her ;  and,  growing  more  and  more  appre- 
hensive that  something  really  serious  had  prevented  my 
return,  she  requested  Dr.  Crane  to  go  and  try  to  find  me. 

The  doctor  accordingly  set  out  to  hunt  me  up ;  but  after 
tramping  about  in  the  rain  for  nearly  half  an  hour  with- 
out success,  he  gave  up  the  quest  and  went  back  to  the 
carpet  factory,  where  he  found  the  Empress  still  standing 
in  the  doorway,  her  plain,  dark  dress  glistening  with  rain, 
her  skirts  and  shoes  soiled;  herself  unnoticed,  uncared  for 
by  those  who  passed  by  hurriedly  on  their  way  homeward, 
pushing  their  dripping  umbrellas  almost  into  the  face  of  her 
who  was  now  without  a  home  and  shelterless,  but  who 
only  a  few  days  before  was  their  sovereign.  Both  the 
ladies  were  now  beginning  to  feel  very  anxious  indeed. 
Dr.  Crane  tried  to  reassure  them,  and  also  to  persuade  the 


THE    PORTE   COCHKRK    AT    LIS1HUX. 


ON    THE    ROAD    TO    THE    COAST        355 

Empress  to  step  in  under  the  cover  of  the  passage,  but  to 
no  purpose;  so  that,  when  my  carriage  turned  into  the 
street  leading  to  the  railway  station,  I  saw  her  Majesty 
standing  in  the  rain  at  the  entrance  of  the  factory,  appar- 
ently alone,  and  presenting  such  a  picture  of  complete 
abandonment  and  utter  helplessness  as  to  produce  upon 
me  a  powerful  and  ineffaceable  impression. 

It  seemed  impossible  that  this  thing  could  be.  What 
I  saw  was  so  utterly  inconsistent  with  what  I  had  seen,  and 
the  memory  of  which  flashed  into  my  mind  instantly,  that 
I  could  scarcely  believe  my  own  eyes.  "  Am  I  dreaming," 
I  said  to  myself,  "  or  is  this  indeed  reality  ?  ' 

Less  than  a  year  had  passed  since,  at  Constantinople,  I 
had  watched  from  the  villa  of  Sefer  Pacha  the  Aigle  as  she 
rounded  the  Seraglio  Point  and  entered  the  waters  of  the 
Golden  Horn,  bringing  the  Empress  as  the  guest  of  the 
Sultan,  and  had  witnessed  the  unparalleled  magnificence 
and  splendor  of  the  ceremony  with  which  she  was  received. 

No  vision  of  fairy-land  could  be  more  exquisitely  beau- 
tiful than  was  seen  under  the  soft,  opalescent  sky,  and  in 
the  balmy  atmosphere  of  that  superb  October  day  when, 
just  before  sundown,  the  barge  of  the  Sultan,  manned  by 
forty  oarsmen,  and  especially  constructed  to  convey  the 
Imperial  visitor  to  the  residence  that  had  been  chosen  for 
her — the  palace  at  Beylerbey,  on  the  Asiatic  shore — shot 
out  upon  the  bright  blue  waters  of  the  Bosporus,  from 
under  the  walls  of  the  palace  at  Dolma  Bagchtie,  and  ap- 
peared in  the  midst  of  the  fleet  of  war-ships,  steamers, 
yachts,  and  innumerable  caiques,  decorated  with  the  flags 
of  France  and  Turkey ;  half  a  million  people,  on  the  water 
and  on  the  land,  watching  the  wonderful  spectacle;  the 
Turkish  women,  dressed  in  costumes  of  the  most  brilliant 
colors,  massed  together  by  thousands  in  the  open  places 
on  the  bank,  between  Tophaneh  and  Dolma  Bagchtie,  that 
encircles  the  water-front  like  an  amphitheater,  and  which 
framed  in  a  noble  and  singularly  picturesque  setting  the 


356         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

panoramic  scene  immediately  before  me.  In  the  barge — 
a  graceful  construction  of  polished  cedar,  and  ornamented 
with  gold,  and  massive  silver  and  velvet,  and  richest  fab- 
rics— a  dais  or  canopy  of  crimson  silk  had  been  erected, 
beneath  the  folds  of  which  I  saw  the  Empress,  as  the  barge 
drew  near  me,  sitting  alone  in  evening  dress,  a  light  man- 
tilla over  her  head,  wearing  a  diadem  and  many  rich  jewels, 
radiant  and  beautiful,  and  supremely  happy  and  proud 
to  accept  this  magnificent  tribute  paid  to  the  glory  of 
France,  and  to  witness  the  extraordinary  scene  which  she 
herself  had  unconsciously  created. 

"  It  is  impossible,"  I  said  to  myself,  as  I  recalled  to 
mind  the  incidents  of  this  more  than  royal  progress,  ' '  that 
she,  who  was  the  recipient  in  a  foreign  land  of  all  those 
honors ;  on  whom,  as  the  most  interesting  and  distinguished 
feature  and  the  most  brilliant  and  attractive  ornament  of 
a  marvelous  pageant,  thousands  of  eyes  were  then  turned  in 
wonder  and  admiration,  was  the  same  person  who  to-day 
is  a  fugitive,  without  a  shelter  even  from  the  inclemency 
of  the  weather,  forgotten,  unnoticed  by  her  own  people  as 
they  pass  by  her  on  the  street,  and  so  completely  lost,  in 
this  very  France  where  she  was  once  so  honored,  that  her 
existence  even  is  known  to  but  two  men — and  those  two 
Americans !  ' ' 

Such  a  shifting  of  situations  and  scenes  might  well  have 
been  the  work  of  some  malignant  Jinn,  so  suddenly,  so  un- 
expectedly, with  such  seeming  mockery,  had  the  transfor- 
mation been  made.  So  closely  were  these  situations  related 
to  each  other,  so  sharp  were  the  contrasts  they  offered, 
that  they  seemed  incredible.  Yet  all  these  events  had 
actually  taken  place,  and  under  my  own  eyes,  and  to  the 
least  circumstance  were  matters  of  fact  and  of  history. 
And  so  it  happens  in  human  affairs,  that  the  prodigies  of 
Fortune  in  reality  lie  beyond  the  range  of  the  imagination, 
and  that  truth  is  indeed  sometimes  stranger  than  fiction. 

I  found  the  Empress  wet  through  and  through  by  the 


ON    THE    ROAD    TO    THE    COAST        357 

drenching  rain,  and  it  grieved  me  bitterly  when  I  saw  her 
in  this  pitiable  condition.  The  vulgar,  dismal,  and  dirty 
surroundings,  the  gloomy  sky,  and  especially  the  wearied 
faces  of  the  two  ladies,  that  bespoke  the  consequences  of 
many  anxious,  sleepless  nights,  made  me  feel  more  sad 
at  that  moment  than  I  had  felt  at  any  time  since  our  de- 
parture from  Paris.  But  it  was  not  long  before  we  were 
on  our  way  again ;  and  soon  after  leaving  Lisieux  the  clouds 
lifted,  and  we  caught  glimpses  of  the  sun. 

We  were  now  passing  through  one  of  the  richest  agri- 
cultural departments  in  France,  famous  for  its  horses  and 
its  dairies;  where  the  broad  yellow  fields  from  which  the 
wheat  had  just  been  harvested;  and  acres  of  green  sugar- 
beets,  and  belts  of  clover  and  lucerne  in  which  the  tethered 
cattle  were  feeding,  extended  to  the  right  and  to  the  left 
of  us  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach.  Here  and  there  were 
farmhouses  and  thatched  cottages,  those  nearest  to  us  half 
concealed  in  the  midst  of  orchards  or  by  clumps  of  pro- 
tecting trees;  those  in  the  distance  half  revealed  by  the 
smoke  slowly  rising  from  great  heaps  of  smoldering  colza 
stalks.  The  splendid  road  was  lined  with  trees  on  either 
side.  Some  of  the  villas  we  passed  were  very  handsome, 
and  looked  charmingly  in  their  setting  of  green  lawn,  and 
plots  of  flowers,  and  autumn  foliage.  And  many  of  the 
quaint  cottages  and  outbuildings  with  whitewashed  walls, 
held  together  by  a  framework  of  black  wooden  beams 
arranged  in  lozenges,  were  extremely  picturesque.  The 
scenery  was  lovely,  the  air  was  mild  and  soft,  and  the  coun- 
try looked  clean,  and  fresh,  and  beautiful  after  the  rain. 
It  was  not  only  la  belle  France  which  was  here  the  object 
of  our  admiration,  but  la  France  faisant  la  belle  after  a 
frowning  and  unhappy  morning. 

We  were  on  the  last  stage  of  our  journey,  and,  as 
things  began  to  look  brighter  about  us,  we  began  to  feel 
more  cheerful  and  more  hopeful;  we  amused  ourselves, 
even,  by  recounting  some  of  our  experiences  at  the  "  Soleil 


358         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

d'Or."  And  the  Empress  told  us  how,  before  she  left  her 
room  that  morning,  she  had  washed  and  ironed — that  is, 
pressed  out  in  some  ingenious  way,  I  have  forgotten  just 
how  it  was  done — a  couple  of  handkerchiefs,  the  only  ones 
she  had;  and  she  exhibited  them  to  us,  asking  if  we  did 
not  think  the  work  was  well  done,  considering  the  circum- 
stances; adding  archly,  "  When  there  is  no  necessity  that 
moves  us,  we  little  suspect  our  own  cleverness  or  capacity 
to  do  things." 

At  Pont  l'Eveque  we  stopped  at  the  "  Lion  d'Or  "  just 
long  enough  to  feed  our  horses  and  get  a  lunch  ourselves, 
and  then  went  on  to  Deauville,  through  the  beautiful  valley 
of  the  Auge,  which  soon  unites  with  the  valley  of  the 
Touques,  past  the  little  hamlets  of  Coudray,  Canapville 
and  Bonneville,  and  through  Touques,  with  its  quaint  old 
wooden  market  and  its  long,  deserted  street,  until  we  reached 
the  bridge  that  crosses  the  river  Touques  at  Trouville  and 
connects  this  town  with  Deauville,  which  is  exactly  oppo- 
site, on  the  left  bank  of  the  river.  Here  we  arrived  about 
three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon;  the  last  stage  of  our  journey 
having  been  accomplished  without  interruption,  and  very 
comfortably,  the  carriage  being  the  best  one  we  had  been 
able  to  obtain  on  the  way. 

The  route  we  had  followed,  from  Evreux  to  the  coast, 
was  almost  exactly  the  same  as  that  which  Louis  Philippe 
had  taken  at  the  time  of  his  flight  from  Paris,  twenty-two 
years  before. 

Just  eight  days  previous  to  our  escape  from  Paris  I  was 
walking  with  Mrs.  Evans  upon  the  beach  at  Deauville,  as 
we  were  accustomed  to  do  in  the  morning,  when  we  met 

Count   G.   B ,   whom  I   had  known   for  many  years, 

although  our  acquaintance  had  always  remained  a  casual 
one.  By  accident,  a  conversation  ensued  in  the  course  of 
which  the  Count  invited  me  to  go,  the  next  day,  to  see  a 
villa  which  he  had  recently  built  or  bought.    I  told  him  that 


ON    THE    ROAD    TO    THE    COAST        359 

I  should  have  to  return  to  Paris  early  the  next  day — Mon- 
day— on  account  of  my  professional  engagements;  but  he 
pressed  me  so  much,  and  in  so  kind  a  manner,  that  I  could 
not  refuse,  especially  after  he  mentioned  that  he  would 
like  to  show  me  an  American  ' '  buggy, ' '  or  trotting  wagon, 
that  had  been  sent  to  him,  and  that  he  would  take  me 
out  in  this  to  see  the  country  lying  around  Trouville 
and  Deauville,  which,  notwithstanding  my  frequent  vis- 
its to  both  towns,  was  not  very  well  known  to  me.  The 
next  morning,  at  an  early  hour,  the  Count  called  on  me 
with  his  new  "  trap,"  and  we  had  a  delightful  drive  over 
excellent  roads,  which  offered  to  my  view  at  every  turn 
a  great  many  things  of  interest.  The  time  passed  so  quickly 
and  pleasantly  that  it  seemed  to  me  we  had  but  just  started, 
when  we  arrived  before  the  door  of  a  church  in  Honfleur. 
Here  the  Count  halted,  and  invited  me  to  go  with  him  into 
the  building.  On  entering  it,  he  said  to  me,  "  I  hope  you 
will  excuse  me  for  leaving  you  for  a  few  moments,  but  I 
never  come  here  without  saying  a  prayer." 

Thereupon  he  went  to  the  basin  containing  the  holy 
water,  crossed  himself,  and  knelt  down  upon  a  priedieu 
opposite  the  altar,  where  he  remained  for  some  minutes  in 
silent  adoration.  When  we  had  left  the  church  and  were 
together  again,  he  said :  ' '  You  were  perhaps  surprised 
that  I  made  you  wait  in  the  church ;  but  it  was  at  Honfleur 
that  my  King,  Louis  Philippe,  spent  his  last  night  in 
France.  The  place  where  he  slept  a  few  hours  during 
that  night  is  not  far  off,  and,  if  it  interests  you,  we  will  go 
and  see  it."  I,  of  course,  gladly  assented,  and  we  soon 
reached  the  very  unpretentious-looking  building  where  this 
unfortunate  King  of  France  passed  his  last  hours  in  the 
country  he  had  once  governed.  From  my  companion  I 
learned  that  the  house  at  that  time  (1848)  belonged  to  a 
fashionable  court  milliner  of  the  Place  Vendome,  who 
on  this  occasion  offered  to  the  dethroned  monarch  her 
hospitality.    The  vivid  manner  in  which  the  Count  related 


360         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

some  of  the  incidents  of  the  King's  flight  impressed  upon 
me  the  sad  story  of  the  fall  of  that  monarch  from  his  high 
position.  And  now,  one  week  later,  strangely  enough,  I 
myself  was  accompanying  another  sovereign  of  France, 
who  had  experienced  a  still  greater  reverse  of  fortune,  in 
her  flight  from  her  capital  over  almost  exactly  the  same 
road,  her  Majesty  reaching  the  coast  at  Deauville,  and 
Louis  Philippe  at  Trouville;  for  it  was  at  Trouville  that 
he  remained  several  days,  hidden  in  a  small  house  in  one 
of  the  narrowest  streets  in  the  town — No.  5  Rue  des 
Rosiers — before  venturing  to  go  on  to  Honfleur. 


CHAPTER    XIII 

DEAUVILLE THE   EMBAKKATION 

Deauville — Precautions — Looking  for  a  boat  in  which  to  cross  the  Chan- 
nel— Interview  with  Sir  John  Burgoyne — Lady  Burgoync — -Dinner 
at  the  Hotel  du  Casino — A  small  gold  locket — I  meet  Sir  John 
Burgoyne  on  the  quay — Her  Majesty  leaves  the  Hotel  du  Casino 
— A  wild  night — The  strangeness  of  the  situation — Contrasts — On 
board  the  Gazelle — Dr.  Crane  returns  to  Paris. 

j  HEN  the  first  houses  of  Deauville  became  visible, 
the  driver  asked  me  where  I  wished  him  to 
take  us.  To  find  an  answer  to  this  question 
had  greatly  perplexed  me  during  the  last  hour ; 
for,  although  our  destination  was  the  Hotel  du  Casino, 
where  1  had  apartments  for  my  wife  and  myself,  I  did  not 
think  it  wise  to  drive  there  openly,  fearing  that  word  might 
have  been  sent  ahead  to  arrest  us  in  case  we  should  be 
found  there. 

We  had  little  doubt  that  a  description  of  us  had  been 
forwarded  to  all  the  seaports  of  France,  and  the  fact  that 
Mrs.  Evans  was  passing  the  season  there  was  a  special  rea- 
son for  suspecting  that  a  careful  watch  would  be  kept 
about  this  hotel  and  its  immediate  neighborhood.  More- 
over, my  wife  was  quite  unaware  of  my  presence  in  Deau- 
ville, and  of  the  special  circumstances  which  had  brought 
me  here.  I  therefore  told  our  driver  to  stop  at  the  entrance 
of  the  race-course,  as  a  friend  of  mine  lived  near  by  whom 
I  wished  to  see  before  going  farther. 

When  we  halted  at  the  side  of  the  road,  I  got  out,  and 
leaving  my  companions  in  the  carriage,  walked  into  the 

361 


362         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

town.  On  arriving  at  the  Hotel  du  Casino,  passing  behind 
the  main  building,  I  went  through  the  garden,  entered 
a  door  of  the  house  at  the  end  fronting  on  the  sea,  and 
rapidly  mounted  the  staircase  leading  to  the  rooms  occu- 
pied by  Mrs.  Evans.  Fortunately  I  found  my  wife  at 
home,  and  I  announced  to  her  in  as  few  words  as  possible 
what  had  happened  and  told  her  what  I  wished  to  do.  I 
learned  from  her  that  no  news  about  us  had  been  received 
at  Deauville,  and  that  no  one  knew  where  the  Empress 
was.  So  there  seemed  to  be  no  danger  to  be  apprehended 
for  the  moment.  Whereupon,  having  provided  myself  with 
an  umbrella — for  it  had  now  begun  to  rain — I  went  back 
to  the  place  where  I  had  left  the  carriage  and  rejoined  my 
companions. 

After  reporting  to  them  that  all  was  well  and  every- 
thing in  readiness,  I  gave  the  driver  instructions  where  to 
go,  telling  him  to  stop  in  front  of  the  little  gate  that  opened 
into  the  garden  at  the  west  end  of  the  hotel.  I  thus  took 
the  Empress  to  the  hotel  by  the  same  side-way  by  which  I 
myself  had  approached  it  on  arriving.  Dr.  Crane  and 
Madame  Lebreton  then  turned  about  and  drove  up  to  the 
front  entrance,  where  they  got  out  and  made  their  inquiries 
like  other  travelers.  When  the  Empress  and  I  came  to  the 
garden-gate,  I  found  my  umbrella  very  useful,  for  a  young 
American  happened  to  be  standing  there  who,  upon  see- 
ing me,  advanced  to  greet  me.  As  a  few  drops  of  rain 
were  falling  I  opened  and  held  the  umbrella  in  front  of 
me,  at  the  same  time  walking  quickly  forward.  I  was  told, 
not  long  after,  that  he  took  my  companion  for  Mrs. 
Evans,  and  thought  I  had  not  seen  him.  We  thus  for- 
tunately reached  Mrs.  Evans's  rooms  unobserved,  where, 
after  greeting  my  wife,  the  Empress  fell  back  exhausted 
into  an  armchair,  exclaiming: 

"  Oh,  mon  Dieu,  je  suis  sauvee!  " 

A  few  minutes  later  I  heard  the  chambermaid  directing 
Dr.  Crane  and  Madame  Lebreton  to  rooms  that  were  ex- 


DEAUVILLE  363 

aetly  opposite  ours,  which  made  communication  easy  be- 
tween them  and  us  in  case  of  need.  In  accordance  with 
a  previous  understanding,  they  had  asked  for  rooms  on  the 
first  floor,  on  which  were  the  apartments  occupied  by  my 
wife,  but  had  acted  as  if  they  were  strangers  to  the  place 
and  had  nothing  to  do  with  us. 

So  far  everything  had  succeeded  very  well.  The  next 
thing  to  be  considered  was  how  we  were  to  get  to  England. 
Accordingly,  soon  after  our  arrival  at  the  hotel,  accom- 
panied by  Dr.  Crane  I  crossed  over  the  ferry  to  Trouville 
to  obtain  information  on  this  subject;  and,  more  particu- 
larly, to  see  if  there  was  any  chance  of  obtaining  a  boat 
for  the  execution  of  this  part  of  our  plan,  and  which, 
perhaps,  I  might  hire  under  the  pretext  of  desiring  to  use 
it  for  a  fishing-excursion  or  for  a  pleasure-cruise. 

There  were  two  possible  ways  for  us  to  cross  the 
Channel :  one  was  by  the  regular  passenger-boat  that  left 
Havre  for  Southampton  on  the  following  evening  at  nine 
o'clock;  the  other  was  by  a  boat  hired  for  the  trip,  or 
whose  owner  might  be  disposed  to  share  with  us  volun- 
tarily the  honor  and  the  risk  of  aiding  her  Majesty  to  es- 
cape from  France.  The  Havre-Southampton  boat  we  did 
not  wish  to  take,  if  we  could  possibly  avoid  it.  There  was 
sure  to  be  a  great  number  of  passengers  on  board,  some  of 
them  probably  refugees  like  ourselves.  Detectives  would 
very  probably  be  on  the  look-out  for  them ;  and,  if  so,  were 
we  among  them  we  certainly  should  be  discovered.  No,  we 
will  not  go  that  way,  we  said,  so  long  as  there  is  the 
least  chance  of  our  being  able  to  find  a  suitable  boat  for 
our  exclusive  use,  even  if  we  have  to  go  over  to  Havre  to 
get  one. 

While  we  were  considering  these  matters  and  making 
inquiries  about  the  boats  that  could  be  hired  in  this  place 
for  excursions,  our  way  had  taken  us  along  the  quays  to 
the  bridge  over  the  Touques,  connecting  Trouville  and 
Deauville,  and  close  by  the  Deauville  docks.     I  now  re- 


364         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

membered  that  a  number  of  pleasure-yachts  were  fre- 
quently lying  in  these  locked  docks;  for  instance,  I  had 
often  seen  there  one  owned  by  the  Duke  of  Hamilton,  as 
well  as  those  of  other  Englishmen;  and  I  knew  that  if 
I  could  obtain  one  of  these  we  could  cross  the  Channel 
much  more  comfortably  than  in  a  fishing-vessel.  We  there- 
fore directed  our  steps  toward  these  docks  in  search  of 
a  yacht,  and  soon  discovered,  in  the  upper  one,  a  boat 
with  two  masts,  which  we  thought  would  serve  our  pur- 
pose uncommonly  well. 

On  making  inquiries  about  it,  we  were  informed  that 
the  owner  was  absent,  but  that  we  would  find  in  the  cabin 
an  American  gentleman,  one  of  his  friends.  Hearing  this, 
I  decided  not  to  go  on  board,  as  I  feared  I  might  meet  an 
acquaintance.  Proceeding  a  little  farther  along  the  quay 
(de  la  Marine),  I  saw  another  but  smaller  boat,  half  con- 
cealed behind  a  huge  pile  of  boards.  At  the  same  time  a 
sailor  approached  us,  wearing  a  blue  jersey  packet,  and 
having  on  his  cap  the  word  Gazelle. 

Upon  our  inquiring  to  what  boat  he  belonged,  he  in- 
formed us  that  he  was  one  of  the  crew  of  a  yacht  owned 
by  Sir  John  Burgoyne,  which  happened  to  be  the  very 
vessel  I  was  looking  at.  After  I  had  spoken  of  the  neat, 
trim  appearance  of  his  yacht,  and  expressed  a  wish  to  ob- 
tain certain  information  about  it,  he  said  that  if  I  would 
go  on  board  he  thought  there  would  be  no  difficulty  in  my 
getting  it  from  Sir  John  himself,  as  he  believed  he  was 
in  the  cabin.  And  so,  under  the  guidance  of  the  sailor, 
we  went  on  board  the  Gazelle.  The  man  then  left  us,  and 
after  a  few  minutes  returned  to  announce  that  his  master 
would  show  us  over  the  vessel.  When  Sir  John  Burgoyne 
joined  us,  we  introduced  ourselves,  I  handing  him  my  card 
having  on  it  the  words : 

' '  Dr.  Thomas  W.  Evans, 
"  President  of  the  American  Sanitary  Committee,  Paris." 


DEAUVILLE  365 

We  told  him  that  we  had  admired  the  appearance  of 
his  boat,  and  had  come  on  board  at  the  suggestion  of  one 
of  his  men.  We  thanked  him  for  his  courtesy  in  receiv- 
ing us,  and,  without  immediately  disclosing  to  him  the 
real  purpose  for  which  we  had  come,  after  having  asked 
a  question  or  two,  told  him  we  should  certainly  be  very 
glad  to  visit  the  yacht.  Whereupon  the  owner  of  the 
Gazelle  led  us  round,  showing  and  explaining  to  us  many 
of  the  details  of  his  pretty  craft,  telling  us  something  of 
its  history;  giving  its  measurement,  forty -two  tons;  its 
length,  sixty  feet;  the  number  of  the  crew,  six  all  told, 
and  so  forth;  and  finally,  after  we  had  obtained  all  the 
information  we  desired  with  respect  to  the  boat,  he  an- 
nounced to  us  that  he  hoped  to  leave  the  next  morning, 
about  seven  o'clock,  for  England,  as  at  that  hour  the  tide 
would  enable  him  to  get  out  of  the  harbor,  adding  that 
bad  weather  had  already  kept  him  in  Deauville  a  few 
days  longer  than  he  had  anticipated. 

After  Sir  John  Burgoyne  had  finished  showing  us  his 
yacht,  and  had  stated  his  intention  to  leave  Deauville  the 
next  morning,  I  drew  him  aside  and  told  him  I  had  a 
confidential  communication  to  make,  saying  that  I  believed 
him  to  be  a  man  in  whose  honor  I  could  trust,  and  on 
whose  silence  I  could  rely  should  he  be  unable  to  give  me 
the  special  assistance  I  was  seeking.  Sir  John,  in  answer 
to  my  statement,  opened  his  card-case,  and  giving  me  a 
card,  remarked,  "I  am  an  English  gentleman,  and  have 
been  in  her  Majesty's  service  and  in  the  army  for  some 
years."  These  words  quite  assured  me,  and  I  then  told 
him  frankly  and  without  reserve  how  I  happened  to  be  in 
Deauville.  I  related  some  of  the  incidents  connected  with 
the  Revolution  in  Paris,  and  with  our  flight  from  the  city. 
I  told  him  where  the  Empress  was  at  the  time ;  of  the  un- 
happy situation  she  was  in;  that  it  was  her  Majesty's  most 
earnest  desire  to  escape  to  England ;  that  we  were  afraid 
to  make  use  of  any  public  conveyance;  and  finally  asked 
25 


366         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

him  whether,  in  view  of  the  urgency  of  the  case,  he  would 
be  willing  to  receive  the  unfortunate  sovereign,  Madame 
Lebreton,  and  myself  on  board  his  yacht  and  take  us  to 
England.  I,  of  course,  did  not  doubt  for  a  moment  that 
his  answer  would  be  in  the  affirmative.  The  reader  may 
therefore  imagine  my  astonishment  when  Sir  John  replied : 
"  I  regret,  gentlemen,  that  I  am  unable  to  assist  you  in 
this  matter. ' ' 

Although  Dr.  Crane  and  I  had  noticed  the  change  in 
Sir  John's  manner  immediately  he  was  made  aware  of  the 
real  object  of  our  visit,  we  were  not  prepared  for  his 
refusal  of  our  request.  But  what  appeared  to  us  still 
more  extraordinary  were  the  reasons  he  gave  for  declining 
to  assist  us.  Inasmuch  as  he  had  with  some  emphasis 
drawn  my  attention  to  the  fact  that  he  was  an  English 
gentleman,  I  said  to  him :  "Sir  John,  I  am  an  American, 
and  in  our  country  every  man  will  run  any  risk  for  a 
woman,  and  especially  for  a  lady  whose  life  is  in  danger. 
I,  therefore,  when  her  Majesty  applied  to  me  for  help, 
left  my  home  in  Paris,  and  all  that  it  contains,  without 
taking  the  least  thought  of  the  dangers  that  might  come 
in  my  way,  or  calculating  the  losses  I  might  suffer. ' '  And 
with  the  greatest  earnestness,  and  remaining  as  calm  as 
possible,  I  informed  him  that  I  should  endeavor  to  find  a 
boat  whose  owner  would  be  willing  to  give  us  the  assistance 
we  required,  adding  that  I  had  already  examined  another 
yacht  in  the  basin  which  would  quite  answer  our  purpose. 

My  last  words  seemed  to  have  caused  Sir  John  to 
reflect,  for,  after  hesitating  a  moment,  he  said  to  me: 
"  That  little  schooner,  in  such  weather  as  we  shall  prob- 
ably have,  would  be  very  likely  to  go  to  the  bottom,  in 
ease  the  owner  should  consent  to  make  the  trip." 

Although,  after  what  he  had  said  at  first,  I  had  no 
intention  of  discussing  the  subject  further  with  Sir  John, 
this  remark  of  his  set  me  to  thinking  of  my  own  responsi- 
bility for  the  safety  of  the  illustrious  lady  who  had  en- 


DEAUVILLE  367 

trusted  her  life  to  me.  And  in  justice  to  Sir  John  I 
should  say  that,  among  the  reasons  he  assigned  for  not 
being  disposed  to  receive  the  Empress  on  board  his  boat, 
there  were  two  or  three  which  I  am  now  willing  to  admit 
were  entitled  to  much  more  consideration  than  at  the  time 
I  was  inclined  to  give  them.  He  was  by  no  means  certain, 
he  said,  that  he  should  be  able  to  leave  Deauville  the  next 
day,  on  account  of  the  heavy  sea  outside,  and  the  northwest 
wind  that  was  still  blowing  stiffly.  For  her  Majesty  to  re- 
main long  on  the  yacht  in  port  might  become  embarrassing, 
and  to  put  to  sea  dangerous. 

Dr.  Crane,  in  the  meantime,  not  willing  to  accept  a 
refusal,  continued  the  conversation  with  Sir  John,  and 
urged  him  strongly  to  reconsider  the  matter.  He  re- 
minded him  that  his  decision  was  one  that  concerned  not 
only  the  Empress,  but  himself  as  well;  that  a  man  rarely 
had  the  chance  to  accede  to  such  a  request  as  we  were 
making;  that,  were  he  to  take  the  Empress  over  to  Eng- 
land, he  might  some  day  be  very  glad  he  had  once  had 
the  good  fortune  to  be  of  service  to  her;  when,  abruptly, 
as  if  to  end  the  whole  matter,  Sir  John  said:  "  Well, 
gentleman,  you  may  submit  the  case  to  Lady  Burgoyne. 
If  she  is  willing  to  have  the  Empress  come  on  board,  she 
can  come." 

We  then,  on  Sir  John's  invitation,  went  down  into  the 
cabin,  and  were  presented  to  Lady  Burgoyne.  When 
the  facts  had  been  laid  before  Lady  Burgoyne,  and  her 
husband  asked  her  if  she  was  willing  to  have  the  Empress 
come  on  board,  she  instantly  replied :  ' '  Well,  why  not  ?  I 
certainly  shall  be  greatly  pleased  if  we  can  be  of  any  assist- 
ance to  her,  and  I  can  readily  understand  how  anxious  she 
must  be  at  the  present  moment  to  find  a  refuge.  Let  her 
come  to  us  to-night,  or  as  soon  as  she  can  safely  do  so." 

Our  request  had  met  with  a  favorable  answer.  We 
had  found  a  boat  on  which  her  Majesty  could  cross  the 
Channel  to  England. 


368         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

As  dinner-time  was  approaching,  we  now  took  leave  of 
Sir  John  and  Lady  Burgoyne ;  and  the  former  not  having 
yet  given  me  any  definite  answer  to  certain  questions  re- 
lating to  our  embarking,  I  made  an  appointment  to 
meet  him  in  the  evening  on  the  quay,  in  the  lumber-yard. 
Thereupon  Dr.  Crane  and  I  returned  to  the  Hotel  du 
Casino,  and  I  announced  to  her  Majesty  what  we  had  done. 

At  about  half  past  six  o'clock,  the  usual  dining-hour, 
I  ordered  dinner  for  two  persons  to  be  served  in  our 
drawing-room,  because  the  presence  of  the  Empress,  as 
before  stated,  was  not  known  in  the  hotel,  and  three  din- 
ners could  not  have  been  called  for  without  risking  dis- 
covery or  exciting  a  dangerous  curiosity.  After  the  table 
had  been  set,  Mrs.  Evans's  maid  took  the  dishes  from  the 
hands  of  the  waiter  who  brought  them  up-stairs,  and  no 
waiter  or  servant  was  permitted  to  enter  the  room  while 
the  Empress  was  there.  The  fact  that  we  had  to  divide 
our  table  service  and  food,  which  were  meant  for  two  per- 
sons only,  in  such  a  manner  that  three  persons  could  dine, 
created  much  amusement,  and  we  were  put  into  rather 
a  merry  mood,  the  Empress  herself  two  or  three  times 
giving  way  to  hearty  laughter  at  the  shifts  that  were 
resorted  to  during  this  improvised  dinner. 

Since  her  Majesty  had  left  the  Tuileries  she  had  not 
once  sat  down  to  a  regular  meal,  for  during  our  whole 
journey  she  had  found  no  opportunity  to  do  so.  This 
dinner  in  our  bright,  quiet  room,  which  fronted  the  sea 
and  the  setting  sun,  was  therefore  greatly  appreciated, 
and  especially  as  the  news  I  had  brought  that  she  was 
to  embark  that  evening  had  relieved  her  of  a  heavy  weight 
of  anxiety.  For  the  moment  she  seemed  to  feel  that  she 
had  come  to  the  end  of  her  journey,  and  talked  with 
animation  about  the  events  of  the  past  few  days  and  the 
incidents  of  which  she  herself  was  a  witness,  dwelling,  how- 
ever, rather  on  those  of  a  personal  than  of  a  political  char- 
acter.   She  appeared  to  forget  the  perils  she  had  escaped, 


DEAUVILLE  369 

and  to  look  upon  the  novelties  and  limitations  of  her  present 
estate  as  if  they  were  parts  of  a  comedy  at  which  she  could 
laugh  and  be  amused.  She  had  at  length  found  rest;  she 
was  to  embark  that  night,  and  was  happy.  And  what  did 
it  amount  to,  this  Revolution  in  Paris  ?  It  could  not  change 
the  past,  and  the  future  was  in  the  keeping  of  God.  And 
then  a  sweet  expression,  as  if  of  gratitude  and  trust,  spread 
over  the  features  of  our  illustrious  guest,  and  for  some 
time  she  sat  in  silent  reflection.  Perhaps  her  thoughts 
wandered  to  her  loved  ones  who  were  separated  from  her, 
and  of  whose  fate  she  was  ignorant. 

After  a  while  she  drew  from  her  pocket  a  small  gold 
locket,  that  contained  a  likeness  of  the  Prince  Imperial, 
and  fixed  her  eyes  tenderly  upon  the  beloved  features  of 
her  son,  whom  she  had  not  seen  since  they  parted  at 
Saint  Cloud.  But  the  thoughts  which  were  awakened  in 
her  mind  by  this  picture  were  too  vivid  and  painful  for 
her  at  this  trying  moment;  and  although  she  had  hitherto 
succeeded  perfectly  in  suppressing  her  feelings  of  anxiety 
concerning  him  while  she  still  needed  strength  for  action, 
she  now  burst  into  a  flood  of  tears.  After  a  few  moments 
she  regained  her  self-possession.  She  then  told  us  she  had 
not  dared  to  look  upon  the  miniature  of  the  Prince  for 
many  days,  knowing  well  how  the  sight  of  the  face  of  her 
child  would  act  upon  her.  She  was  now  glad,  however, 
that  she  had  done  so,  because  it  had  greatly  relieved  her. 
When  she  had  conversed  for  an  hour  or  more  with  us,  her 
Majesty  began  to  show  signs  of  weariness,  and,  on  the  ad- 
vice of  Mrs.  Evans,  she  withdrew  to  my  wife's  bedroom, 
and,  lying  down  upon  her  bed,  soon  fell  into  a  sound 
sleep. 

I  then  went  over  to  Dr.  Crane's  room,  where  I  re- 
mained until  about  half  past  ten  o'clock,  when  I  left  the 
hotel  to  keep  the  appointment  which  I  had  made  with  Sir 
John  Burgoyne  to  meet  him  in  the  lumber-yard  near  the 
railway  station. 


370         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

On  arriving  at  the  place  mentioned,  I  found  Sir  John 
waiting  for  me  behind  a  pile  of  planks.  I  inquired  if  he 
had  decided  when  we  could  go  on  board;  for,  at  the  end 
of  our  interview  in  the  afternoon,  the  time  when  he  would 
be  ready  to  receive  us  had  not  been  fixed,  and  I  was 
naturally  quite  anxious  about  it,  since  I  was  afraid  some- 
thing might  occur  at  the  last  moment  to  interfere  with 
the  realization  of  our  hopes  and  wishes.  Sir  John  replied 
that  he  thought  it  would  be  best  for  us  not  to  come  on 
board  until  morning — say  five  or  six  o'clock — a  little  be- 
fore he  cast  off  and  began  to  warp  the  yacht  out  of  the 
dock.  The  delay  which  was  then  suggested,  although  only 
of  a  few  hours,  made  me  feel  very  uncomfortable.  I  told 
Sir  John  that,  if  we  were  really  to  leave  the  harbor  at  an 
early  hour  in  the  morning,  in  my  opinion  the  Empress 
ought  to  go  on  board  at  once ;  that  five  o  'clock  was  a  most 
inconvenient  hour  for  every  one;  that  it  would  be  impru- 
dent for  us  to  wait  until  morning,  because  the  Empress 
was  in  Mrs.  Evans's  rooms,  without  any  one  knowing 
the  fact,  and  it  would  be  very  difficult  for  her  to  leave  at 
so  early  an  hour  of  the  day  without  attracting  attention; 
that,  on  the  other  hand,  it  would  be  comparatively  easy 
for  us  to  leave  the  hotel  toward  midnight,  because  there 
was  a  train  from  Paris  due  about  twelve  o'clock,  and 
passengers  arriving  by  it  often  remained  for  an  hour  or 
more  in  the  dining-room,  as  the  hotel  was  not  usually 
closed  until  after  1  a.m.  We  could  therefore  slip  out  in 
the  dark  into  the  garden  at  a  time  when  most  of  the  regular 
guests  were  in  bed,  and  escape  also  the  notice  of  servants 
or  watchmen.  For  these  reasons  I  was  convinced  that  it 
would  be  best  for  us  to  go  on  board  as  soon  as  we  could 
get  ready — it  was  then  after  eleven  o'clock — and  I  told 
him  that,  unless  we  could  do  this,  I  greatly  feared  his  help 
would  be  of  little  use  to  us. 

"It  is  a  great  responsibility  that  you  are  asking  me 
to  assume,"  said  Sir  John. 


THE    EMBARKATION  371 

"  Perhaps,"  I  replied;  "  but  the  greater  the  responsi- 
bility, the  greater  the  honor." 

Sir  John  made  no  answer  to  this ;  but  after  an  interval 
of  time,  during  which  neither  of  us  spoke,  he  said :  ' ;  The 
barometer  has  been  rising  for  some  hours,  and  the  wind 
and  the  sea  have  gone  down  considerably.  I  think  we  can 
get  out  to-morrow.  Well,  she  may  come.  We  shall  be 
ready  to  receive  you  by  twelve  o'clock.  Come  down  by 
where  we  are  now  standing;  one  of  my  men  shall  be  here 
with  a  lantern,  and  I  will  meet  you  on  the  quay  by  the 
gang-plank,  on  which  there  will  be  a  light." 

In  my  conversation  with  Sir  John  Burgoyne  I  had  been 
very  careful  to  say  nothing  more  than  was  necessary,  be- 
cause, until  I  met  him,  none  but  the  persons  directly  con- 
cerned in  her  escape  from  Paris  knew  where  the  Empress 
was;  and  during  the  whole  of  the  eventful  journey  of 
the  two  previous  days,  no  one,  so  far  as  I  knew,  had  rec- 
ognized her.  It  was  in  Deauville  that  I  was  obliged  for 
the  first  time  to  entrust  the  secret  to  a  stranger;  and  I 
was,  of  course,  anxious  to  know  for  a  certainty  that  it 
would  be  unnecessary  for  me  to  communicate  it  to  others. 
I  felt,  therefore,  greatly  relieved  when  Sir  John  consented 
to  permit  us  to  go  on  board  the  Gazelle  that  night. 

On  returning  to  our  hotel,  I  found  the  Empress  still 
sleeping  quietly;  but  I  informed  Madame  Lebreton  that 
I  had  seen  Sir  John  Burgoyne,  that  all  the  arrangements 
had  been  made  to  receive  us,  and  that  Ave  must  get  ready 
at  once  to  go  on  board  of  the  yacht. 

During  my  absence  Mrs.  Evans  had  prepared  for  her 
guests  a  parcel  containing  linen  and  the  articles  most  nec- 
essary for  a  voyage;  so  that  neither  the  Empress  nor  Ma- 
dame Lebreton — who  had,  as  before  mentioned,  been  unable 
to  provide  themselves  with  the  commonest  articles  of  the 
toilet  when  leaving  the  Tuileries — should  be  in  want  of 
them  until  they  were  settled  in  England.  Some  wraps 
and  shawls  for  the  Ladies  <-<mipleted  the  outfit. 


372         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

Her  Majesty  soon  joined  us,  and,  putting  on  her  hat 
and  waterproof,  said  she  was  ready  to  go.  Then,  after 
taking  leave  of  Mrs.  Evans,  embracing  her  most  tenderly 
and  with  many  thanks,  accompanied  by  me — leaving  Dr. 
Crane  and  Madame  Lebreton  to  follow  a  little  later — she 
passed  out  of  the  hotel  through  the  door  by  which  we  had 
entered. 

It  did  not  rain,  but  the  weather  was  threatening.  A 
strong  wind  was  blowing  in  sharp  gusts  from  the  west  and 
driving  the  dark  clouds  swiftly  across  the  face  of  the  moon, 
that  for  an  instant  shone  out  brightly,  and  then  disappeared 
so  suddenly  as  to  plunge  everything  into  obscurity.  It 
was  a  wild  night,  and  as  the  sound  of  the  distant  surge 
of  the  sea  came  to  my  ears,  it  seemed  to  be  the  forerunner 
of  some  impending  calamity.  And  it  was!  At  that  very 
moment  the  Captain,  the  most  powerful  fighting  ship  in 
the  British  navy,  was  struggling  with  the  storm  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Channel,  where  she  sank  an  hour  later,  tak- 
ing down  with  her  all  on  board,  a  crew  of  officers  and 
men  five  hundred  in  number;  and — a  remarkable  coinci- 
dence— her  commander  was  Sir  Hugh  Burgoyne,  a  cousin 
of  the  Sir  John  Burgoyne,  on  whose  small  cutter  we  were 
so  rejoiced  to  know  we  were  to  embark  this  night  that 
we  had  never  once  thought  of  danger.  The  appalling 
news  of  the  loss  of  the  Captain,  which  came  to  us  very 
soon  after  we  arrived  in  England,  impressed  us  very  for- 
cibly with  a  sense  of  the  risks  and  hazards  of  attempting 
to  cross  the  English  Channel  in  such  weather,  in  such  a 
boat  as  the  Gazelle,  and  of  thankfulness  that  we  ourselves 
had  not  been  swallowed  up  by  the  besieging  and  insa- 
tiable sea. 

We  had  gone  but  a  few  steps,  when  the  puddles  of 
water  in  the  road  and  the  uncertain  light  caused  us  to 
separate  and  pick  our  way  as  best  we  could.  Indeed,  the 
Empress,  who  was  in  advance  of  me  and  hurrying  for- 


>— I 

X 

p 


H 

ec 


H 

-; 


p 
z 

<: 

3D 

X 

a 
- 


THE    EMBARKATION  373 

ward  eager  to  reach  the  quay,  I  am  sure  must  several  times 
have  quite  lost  sight  of  me. 

At  first  we  followed  the  road  that  skirts  the  seashore, 
going  towards  the  lighthouse;  and  then,  turning  to  the 
right,  we  entered  a  path  that  crossed  some  open  fields  and 
came  out  at  the  Rue  du  Casino,  not  far  from  the  place 
where  stood  the  statue  of  the  Duke  de  Morny — the  Em- 
peror's faithful  and  intelligent  friend,  his  alter  ego — to 
whom  Deauville  owes  its  existence  as  a  fashionable  seaside 
resort. 

As  the  Rue  du  Casino  led  almost  directly  to  the  head 
of  the  dock  in  which  the  Gazelle  was  lying,  we  crossed  the 
Place  de  Morny,  and  passing  hurriedly  by  a  cafe  brilliantly 
lighted  and  from  which  issued  the  sound  of  drunken  voices, 
we  walked  on  in  the  middle  of  the  street  until,  approach- 
ing the  appointed  rendezvous,  we  saw  the  man  with  the 
lantern,  whom  Sir  John  had  put  there  to  guide  us  to  the 
yacht.  Turning  to  the  right  and  the  left  to  avoid  stacks 
of  timber,  and  piles  of  boards,  and  pools  of  water  on  the 
ground,  we  very  soon  reached  the  place  where  the  Gazelle 
was  moored,  and  found  Sir  John  waiting  for  us  at  the 
gang-plank.  After  being  introduced  to  the  Empress,  he 
escorted  us  down  into  the  cabin,  where  we  were  received 
by  Lady  Burgoyne. 

The  condition  in  which  we  arrived  was  deplorable. 
Our  shoes  were  water-soaked,  our  clothing  bedraggled,  and 
we  were  spattered  with  mud  from  head  to  foot. 

It  had  rained  heavily  during  the  day,  and  we  had 
walked  quite  three-quarters  of  a  mile,  a  large  part  of  the 
way  over  ground  covered  with  sand-drifts,  where  it  was 
impossible  at  times,  in  the  shifting  and  uncertain  light, 
to  avoid  stumbling  against  invisible  hillocks,  or  stepping 
into  holes  full  of  water  and  mud.  We  had  come 
quickly,  considering  the  roughness  of  the  way,  but  had 
proceeded  separately  and  silently,  scarcely  uttering  a 
word. 


374         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

What  may  have  been  the  thoughts  of  her  Majesty  as 
we  were  hurrying  through  the  byways  and  deserted  streets 
of  Deauville  at  midnight,  anxious  not  to  be  seen,  under 
the  protection  even  of  the  darkness  and  the  storm,  I  can- 
not say.  With  me  the  thought  uppermost  was  the  strange- 
ness of  the  situation.  It  seemed  impossible  that  I  was 
really  alone  with  the  Empress  of  the  French,  who  was 
leaving  in  this  remarkable  manner  the  land  where  she  had 
reigned  so  many  years  in  splendor,  and  the  people  to  whom 
she  had  been  so  devoted  and  by  whom  she  had  been  so 
greatly  admired. 

How  different  was  this  departure  of  the  Empress  for 
a  foreign  country  from  those  of  former  days!  Then,  she 
went  forth  accompanied  by  her  ladies-in-waiting,  and 
chamberlains,  and  officers  of  the  household,  escorted  by 
squadrons  of  cavalry  riding  rapidly  through  the  streets 
lined  with  enthusiastic  spectators,  crying,  "  Vive  I'lmpera- 
trice!  "  and  who  assembled  in  crowds  about  the  approaches 
of  the  quays  to  catch  a  glimpse  of  her  person,  and  to  greet 
her  with  offerings  of  flowers  and  multitudinous  manifesta- 
tions of  patriotism  and  loyalty.  How  different  were  her 
journeys  in  France  commenced  in  the  days  of  her  sov- 
ereignty !  Then,  every  step  from  one  place  to  another 
resembled  a  triumph,  and  the  journals  all  over  the  country 
vied  with  each  other  in  reporting  the  most  trivial  inci- 
dents in  the  tournee  of  her  Imperial  Majesty,  the  beautiful 
and  distinguished  consort  of  the  ruler  of  France. 

On  that  gloomy  night  of  September  6th  and  7th  there 
were  no  flags  waving,  no  cries  of  "  Vive  I'Imperatrice!  ' 
or  "  Vive  Eugenie!  "  nor  any  admiring  crowd  to  witness 
the  departure,  perhaps  forever,  of  this  great  lady  from 
the  home  she  had  so  long  made  radiant  by  her  presence; 
only  the  clouds  in  black  masses,  spread  over  the  heavens 
like  mourning  drapery;  there  were  no  offerings  of  fresh 
flowers,  only  the  scattered  leaves  of  autumn  driven  before 
the  wind;  there  were  no  attending  courtiers  at  her  side, 


THE    EMBARKATION  375 

only  one  follower  and  friend  accompanying  the  deserted 
Empress  to  the  place  where  she  was  to  embark;  and  the 
only  voices  to  be  heard  were  those  of  men  singing  the 
"  Marseillaise  "  in  the  wine-shops,  and  of  the  howling 
storm,  and  of  the  rolling  waves  breaking  against  the 
shore.  The  world  which  had  always  heretofore  been  so 
accurately  informed  as  to  every  movement  of  her  Majesty, 
did  not  know  that  she  was  about  to  leave  her  country; 
and  her  subjects  were  so  busy  in  the  work  of  smashing  in 
pieces  the  whole  fabric  of  the  Imperial  Government,  or 
in  seeking  their  own  personal  safety,  that  nobody  in  the 
capital  from  which  she  had  fled  seemed  to  have  even 
thought  of  her. 

This  indifference,  however  sad  and  regrettable,  was  at 
least  fortunate  for  her  Majesty  in  one  respect ;  for,  though 
it  was  quite  certain  that  there  would  be  no  courtiers  to 
follow  her,  it  was  very  questionable  whether  some  spy 
might  not  be  lurking  by  the  way  to  prevent  the  unfortu- 
nate sovereign  escaping  from  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Rev- 
olutionary Government.  But  no  spy  even  was  sent  to  fol- 
low her.  The  thought,  however,  that  a  mouchard  might  be 
watching  us  made  me  feel  uneasy  at  each  step;  and  every 
sound  and  every  sudden  ray  of  light  falling  across  our 
path  startled  me,  and  gave  rise  to  some  apprehension  that, 
although  apparently  so  near  the  realization  of  our  purpose, 
the  success  of  the  previous  days  might  end  in  failure. 

A  sadder  night  I  have  never  experienced,  and  I  hope 
never  to  witness  its  like  again. 

Soon  afterward  Madame  Lebreton  arrived,  accompanied 
by  Dr.  Crane,  bringing  along  with  him  the  parcel  above 
mentioned.  They  had  come  to  the  yacht  over  a  different 
route  from  that  taken  by  us;  but  they  had  been  obliged 
to  wade  through  the  water,  which  in  several  places  was 
quite  deep,  and  had  mot  with  the  same  difficulties  on  the 
road  that  her  Majesty  and  I  had  encountered. 

Lady  Burgoyne  was  most  gracious   and   sympathetic. 


376         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

She  immediately  placed  everything  she  had  at  the  disposal 
of  the  two  ladies,  and  did  everything  in  her  power  to 
make  them  comfortable.  Changes  of  clothing  were  made, 
a  room  was  provided  for  them,  and  then  hot  punch  was 
prepared  and  served,  which  was  greatly  appreciated  by 
the  whole  company.  The  only  news  we  heard  on  board 
the  yacht,  apart  from  what  we  had  read  in  the  Paris 
morning  papers,  consisted  of  vague  rumors  that  during  the 
day,  acts  of  violence  had  been  committed  in  Paris;  that  a 
number  of  persons  had  been  arrested,  and  among  others 
the  Princess  Mathilde.  The  Empress  was  particularly 
anxious  to  know  if  the  London  papers  contained  any  news 
of  the  Prince  Imperial,  or  any  information  about  the  Em- 
peror, and  was  greatly  disappointed  to  learn  that  the 
latest  English  papers  received,  dated  September  5th,  con- 
tained very  little  that  interested  her,  and  no  indication 
of  the  place  in  which  the  Prince  then  was.  She,  however, 
quickly  suppressed  her  emotion,  thanked  Lady  Burgoyne 
for  what  she  had  done  and  was  doing  for  her,  and  re- 
counted some  of  her  own  recent  personal  experiences. 

After  we  had  talked  together  awhile,  the  Empress  and 
Madame  Lebreton  retired  to  their  small  stateroom  at  the 
end  of  the  cabin,  and  Lady  Burgoyne  also  went  to  her 
berth,  which  was  at  the  side  of  the  saloon. 

After  the  ladies  had  left  us,  Sir  John,  Dr.  Crane,  and 
myself  went  on  to  the  deck,  where  we  walked  slowly  up 
and  down  in  subdued  conversation.  Sir  John  told  us  some 
of  his  yachting  experiences,  and  again  reminded  me  of 
the  fact  that  he  had  been  brought  up  as  a  soldier.  He 
said  that,  after  quitting  the  army,  he  had  spent  a  great 
deal  of  his  time  in  yachting,  and  that  his  friends  consid- 
ered him  a  famous  sailor.  He  also  again  referred  to  the 
unpleasant  consequences  which  our  presence  on  board  his 
yacht  might  have  for  him.  I  assured  him  there  were  no 
reasons  for  such  apprehensions,  as  our  secret  was  safe  for 
the  time  being,  and  that,  when  it  became  known  that  he 


THE    EMBARKATION  377 

had  taken  us  over  to  England,  no  one  could  blame  him, 
but  on  the  contrary,  every  one  would  praise  him.  Sir 
John  then  remarked  that  he  was  greatly  afraid  the  Em- 
press had  been  followed  by  spies ;  that  he  had  been  to  the 
Casino  during  the  evening,  where  his  suspicions  had  been 
aroused.  He  was  evidently  very  uneasy,  and  on  the  watch 
for  some  movement  having  for  its  object  the  arrest  of  her 
Majesty.  But  everything  remained  perfectly  quiet  in  the 
neighborhood,  and  not  a  soul  came  near  the  yacht,  or 
was  seen,  but  the  douanier  (the  custom-house  officer)  on 
guard. 

It  was  perhaps  3  a.m.  when  we  left  the  deck  and  re- 
turned to  the  cabin;  and  while  Dr.  Crane  and  I  sat  or 
reclined  upon  a  settee  near  the  table  in  the  center  of  the 
small  saloon,  Sir  John  lay  down  in  a  berth  on  the  side  of 
the  cabin  opposite  to  that  where  Lady  Burgoyne  was  rest- 
ing. Neither  my  friend  nor  I  thought  of  sleep,  and  we 
talked  over  various  important  matters  which  had  to  be 
attended  to  during  my  absence  from  France,  and  especially 
considered  what  further  provision  was  necessary  to  com- 
plete and  put  in  working  order  the  Ambulance  in  Paris, 
which  I  had  left  so  unexpectedly  and  so  suddenly. 

Soon  after  it  began  to  grow  light,  Sir  John  went  on 
deck,  and,  on  returning,  reported  wet  weather,  and  a  fresh 
west-southwest  wind ;  but  that  he  had  given  orders  to  have 
everything  ready  to  cast  off  before  seven  o'clock.  The 
Empress  was  now  informed  that  we  were  soon  to  leave 
the  dock,  and  that  Dr.  Crane  was  not  to  remain  with 
us,  and  would  take  back  to  Paris  any  messages  she  might 
wish  to  send.  Her  Majesty  rose  immediately,  and,  com- 
ing into  the  saloon,  sat  down  on  a  settee  and  gave  the 
doctor  a  list  of  the  persons  she  wished  him  to  see,  together 
with  instructions  respecting  the  channels  through  which 
letters  or  other  communications  could  be  quickly  and  safely 
sent  to  her.  Her  Majesty's  messages  were,  however,  al- 
most entirely  of  a  personal  character,  and  were  intended 


378 


THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 


to  relieve  her  friends  of  any  anxiety  they  might  have  felt 
on  account  of  her  sudden  and  mysterious  disappearance. 
About  half  past  six  o'clock  Dr.  Crane  bade  us  good-by 
and  went  back  to  the  Hotel  du  Casino,  from  which  place, 
after  having  presented  our  adieus  to  Mrs.  Evans,  he 
returned  to  Paris. 


CHAPTER    XIV 

THE   MEETING   BETWEEN    MOTHER   AND   SON 

We  leave  the  harbor — Rough  weather — In  a  gale — We  reach  Ryde 
Roads — The  landing — At  the  York  Hotel — News  of  the  Prince 
Imperial — The  Empress  and  the  Bible — We  go  to  Brighton — The 
Empress  hears  that  the  Prince  Imperial  is  at  Hastings — She  insists 
on  going  there — A  vain  device — We  arrive  at  Hastings — I  go  to 
the  Marine  Hotel  and  find  the  Prince — My  plan  for  a  meeting 
between  mother  and  son — The  Empress  cannot  wait — The  way 
barred — The  Prince  in  the  presence  of  his  mother — Tears  of  joy  and 
of  sorrow — The  Empress  and  the  Prince  Imperial  remain  in  Hastings 
— House-hunting — Mrs.  Evans  comes  to  England — Miss  Shaw — 
Camden  Place — Negotiations — Camden  Place  is  rented — "A  spirited 
horse,  perfectly  safe" — Her  Majesty  leaves  Hastings — She  takes 
possession  of  her  new  home — The  first  night  at  Chislehurst — The 
first  act  of  the  Empress  next  day — A  tragic  story — Conversations 
with  the  Empress. 

$?§}T  was  a  little  after  seven  o'clock  when  we  left 
the  harbor  of  Deauville-Trouville  and  laid  our 
course  for  Southampton.  The  weather  was 
thick,  a  little  rain  was  falling,  and  the  sea 
rough;  but  the  yacht,  with  her  mainsails  set,  together 
with  the  spinnaker  and  second  jib,  and  the  wind  in  her 
favor,  began  to  make  good  headway.  This  gave  us  hope 
that  we  should  reach  the  English  shore  during  the  course 
of  the  afternoon.  Our  hopes,  however,  soon  left  us,  for 
the  weather  grew  worse,  and  before  long  became  very 
threatening.  At  about  one  o'clock  a  violent  squall  came 
up,  the  wind  veering  round  almost  dead  ahead,  and  blow- 
ing from  the  northwest,  the  direction  in  which  we  had 
up  to  this  time  been  steering.     We  lost  our  spinnaker 

379 


380         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

boom  by  this  sudden  shift  of  the  wind,  and  were  forced 
at  once  to  reef  the  mainsail,  run  down  the  jib,  and  set  the 
storm- jib.  All  hands  were  called  up,  and  orders  were 
given  to  have  everything  made  fast  and  to  be  prepared 
for  a  blow.  From  moment  to  moment  the  wind  increased 
in  intensity,  and  the  yacht  began  to  roll  and  pitch  more 
and  more  heavily,  taking  on  board  large  quantities  of 
water.  The  force  of  the  wind  was  so  great,  and  the  sea 
running  so  high,  that  soon  it  was  no  longer  possible  to 
keep  our  course. 

Under  these  circumstances  it  became  a  serious  question 
whether  we  should  be  able  to  continue  our  voyage,  for  the 
Gazelle  was  not  calculated  to  encounter  such  rough  weather, 
and  Sir  John  suggested  to  me  that  he  might  be  forced 
to  seek  a  shelter  in  some  harbor  on  the  French  coast.  I 
was  much  disturbed  to  learn  that  it  was  possible  we  might 
be  compelled  to  put  back,  and  insisted  that  we  ought  to 
trust  in  Providence,  which  had  hitherto  protected  us.  But 
I  was  greatly  reassured  when  the  Empress  herself  told 
us  she  was  not  afraid.  She  considered  that  she  had  es- 
caped from  a  much  more  dangerous  storm  when  she  left 
her  capital.  Indeed,  the  courage  and  the  unwavering  for- 
titude which  her  Majesty  showed  during  the  whole  voyage 
made  a  great  impression  upon  everybody  on  board.  Sir 
John,  observing  her  Majesty's  fearlessness,  and  believing 
it  to  be  her  wish  that  we  should  continue  on  our  course, 
made  no  further  reference  to  turning  back. 

But  the  gale  continued,  the  violence  of  the  gusts  in- 
creased, and  the  yacht  rolled  badly  in  the  heavy  ground- 
swell.  In  order  to  expose  the  small  craft  as  little  as  pos- 
sible to  the  severity  of  the  tempest,  her  sails  were  closely 
reefed,  except  a  small  storm-sail,  and  her  head  brought 
up  into  the  wind,  where  she  lay  plunging  and  rolling  and 
making  no  headway,  except  by  drifting  with  the  tide  or 
on  short  tacks.  It  was  six  o'clock  when  the  Isle  of  Wight 
was  first  sighted,  in  the  eye  of  the  wind ;  and  the  worst  of 


MEETING    OF    MOTHER    AND    SON       381 

}  the  storm  was  yet  to  come.  The  night  settled  down  thick 
and  dark;  the  gusts  of  wind  became  still  more  frequent, 
and  the  rain  fell  in  torrents,  accompanied  by  vivid  flashes 
of  lightning  and  sharp  thunder.  As  the  yacht  reeled  and 
staggered  in  the  wild  sea  that  swept  over  her  deck  and 

!  slapped  her  sides  with  tremendous  force,  it  seemed  as  if 
she  was  about  to  be  engulfed,  and  that  the  end  indeed 
was  near.  At  one  moment  the  pounding  on  the  deck  was 
such  that  her  Majesty  sent  to  inquire  what  had  happened 
— if  any  one  had  been  hurt.  But  the  Gazelle,  although 
small,  proved  to  be  a  stanch  boat,  and  careen  as  she  might 
under  the  force  of  the  storm,  she  righted  herself  quickly 
and  rose  on  the  next  big  wave,  buoyant  as  a  cork.  The 
Empress  told  me  afterward  that  during  this  night  she 
several  times  thought  we  were  sinking,  and  that  the  noise 
and  the  creaking  were  such  as  to  cause  her  to  believe 
the  yacht  would  certainly  go  to  pieces  before  many  min- 
utes. '  I  was  sure  we  were  lost, ' '  she  said ;  ' '  but,  singular 
as  it  may  seem,  I  did  not  feel  alarmed  in  the  least.  I 
have  always  loved  the  sea,  and  it  had  for  me  no  terrors 
then.  Were  I  to  disappear,  I  thought  to  myself,  death, 
perhaps,  could  not  come  more  opportunely,  nor  provide 
me  with  a  more  desirable  grave." 

Towards  midnight  the  force  of  the  gale  began  to  abate, 
so  we  let  out  a  reef  in  our  mainsail;  and  the  wind  com- 
ing round  more  to  the  west,  we  began  to  scud  along  quite 
briskly  toward  the  Nut  Light,  which  could  be  seen  dead 
ahead.  The  weather  continuing  to  improve,  we  reached 
Ryde  Roads,  and  dropped  anchor  there  about  four  o'clock 
on  the  morning  of  September  8th.  As  soon  as  she  heard 
that  we  were  safely  across  the  Channel,  her  Majesty  re- 
quested me  to  thank  the  crew,  as  an  expression  of  our 
appreciation  of  their  services,  and  at  the  same  time  I 
handed  them  some  gold  coins,  which,  it  was  suggested, 
they  might  keep  as  souvenirs  of  the  voyage. 

The  sun  was  just  rising  when  we  left  Sir  John's  yacht 
2G 


382         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

to  go  ashore.  We  landed  at  the  pier,  and  having  passed 
the  toll-gate,  where  we  were  stopped  for  a  moment,  we 
first  directed  our  steps  to  the  Pier  Hotel,  very  near  the 
jetty.  But  here,  probably  because  of  the  early  hour,  or 
our  shabby  appearance — on  foot  and  without  luggage — we 
were  refused  admittance;  the  reason,  however,  very  po- 
litely given,  was  that  there  were  no  rooms  unoccupied. 
We  then  walked  up  George  Street  until  we  came  to  the 
York  Hotel.  Here  I  asked  for  rooms  for  our  party,  but 
the  woman  to  whom  I  spoke,  apparently  hardly  deeming 
us  worthy  of  an  answer,  left  us  and  kept  us  waiting  for 
a  long  while  before  she  at  last  returned,  saying  that  we 
could  be  accommodated.  She  then  showed  us  up  to  the 
top  of  the  house,  where  we  were  led  into  some  very  small 
rooms,  which  we  told  her  would  do  for  the  present;  for 
we  were  glad  to  find  even  such  a  resting-place  as  this, 
after  the  discomforts  and  emotions  we  had  experi- 
enced during  our  perilous  passage  across  the  English 
Channel.  On  her  asking  for  our  names,  I  wrote  upon 
a  bit  of  paper,  "  Mr.  Thomas  and  sister,  with  a  lady 
friend. ' ' 

As  I  was  about  to  leave  the  ladies,  in  order  that  they 
might  give  some  of  their  clothes  to  the  chambermaid  to  be 
cleaned  and  dried,  and  have  a  chance  to  dress,  it  was  discov- 
ered that  the  gown  worn  by  her  Majesty  could  not  at 
once  be  entrusted  to  the  domestics  of  the  house,  for  it 
was  attached  to  a  belt  upon  which  was  fastened  a  large 
silver  "  E  '  surmounted  by  a  crown.  This  ornament 
had  first  to  be  removed,  since  it  would  undoubtedly 
have  attracted  immediate  notice.  Her  Majesty  therefore 
handed  this  garment  out  to  me  through  the  half-opened 
door;  and  after  making  the  necessary  change  in  it,  I  took 
it  down-stairs  to  have  it  cleaned  and  dried  as  well  and 
as  quickly  as  possible  by  the  kitchen  fire.  When  the  ladies 
had  dressed,  and  rested  for  a  time,  we  sat  down  to  break- 
fast, which  was  very  welcome  to  us,  for  on  board  the  yacht 


MEETING    OF    MOTHER    AND    SON       383 

we  had  eaten  little,  and  became  keenly  aware  of  our  fam- 
ished condition  soon  after  our  feet  had  touched  terra 
firma.  We  would  surely  have  liked  to  repose  for  a 
day  or  two,  now  that  we  were  safe  in  England;  for 
none  of  us  had  been  able  to  get  much,  if  any,  sleep 
during  the  preceding  four  days,  and,  besides,  we  were 
each  one  of  us  thoroughly  worn  out  under  the  inces- 
sant stress  of  our  anxieties  and  responsibilities.  But 
we  did  not  yield  to  this  temptation,  for  we  were  too 
eager  to  know  what  had  happened  during  the  days  that 
we  had  been  cut  off  from  every  source  of  information, 
and,  furthermore,  felt  that  we  must  be  ready,  at  a  mo- 
ment's notice,  to  leave  for  a  destination  to  be  determined 
by  the  circumstances. 

I  therefore,  soon  after  breakfast,  went  into  the  town 
to  see  what  news  there  might  be  of  interest  to  us;  for  I 
knew  that  the  plans  and  movements  of  the  Empress  were 
necessarily  dependent  upon  the  political  situation  created 
by  the  events  immediately  succeeding  the  fall  of  the  Im- 
perial Government,  and  more  particularly,  and  directly, 
on  news  concerning  the  Prince  Imperial,  whom  she  was 
most  anxious  to  hear  from  and  to  see. 

In  a  morning  paper  that  I  bought,  it  was  reported  that 
the  Prince  had  arrived  at  Hastings.  I  felt  that,  if  this 
news  should  prove  to  be  correct,  it  would  be,  of  course, 
my  duty  to  bring  the  mother  and  son  together  as  quickly 
as  possible.  Since,  however,  I  did  not  place  much  confi- 
dence in  what  I  had  read,  the  papers  accepting  at  the 
time  so  many  rumors  for  facts,  and  fearing  the  report 
might  excite  her  Majesty  unnecessarily,  I  concluded  to 
simply  state  to  her  that  it  would,  in  my  opinion,  be  well 
to  go  on  at  once  to  Brighton.  There  I  hoped  to  learn  the 
truth;  and  Brighton  was  on  the  direct  road  to,  and  not 
far  from,  Hastings. 

Upon  my  return  to  the  hotel  I  found  the  Empress 
sitting  with  an  open  Bible  in  her  hand.     Her  Majesty, 


384         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

not  being  aware  of  the  English  custom  of  keeping  in  the 
rooms  of  hotels  copies  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments, 
told  me  that  she  was  quite  surprised  to  find  this  book 
upon  the  table,  and  that,  regarding  its  presence  as  provi- 
dential, she  had  opened  the  volumes  to  see  upon  what  pas- 
sage her  eyes  would  first  fall.  She  had  found  some  very 
hopeful  and  encouraging  words;  they  were:  "  The  Lord 
is  my  Shepherd;  I  shall  not  want.  He  maketh  me  to  lie 
down  in  green  pastures:  He  leadeth  me  beside  the  still 
waters. ' ' 

In  consequence  of  this  oracular  message,  or  from  some 
other  cause  more  natural,  she  had  become  quite  cheerful 
and  composed.  And  when  she  heard  my  proposal  to  take 
her  to  Brighton,  where,  I  told  her,  I  hoped  to  hear  news 
regarding  the  Prince  Imperial,  she  seemed  to  be  delighted, 
and  eager  to  go. 

We  were  very  soon  ready  to  start,  and  leaving  the 
hotel,  went  down  to  the  pier  to  embark  on  the  steamer 
going  to  Southsea.  The  Princess  Alice,  which  we  found 
at  the  landing-stage,  took  us  to  the  place  mentioned,  and 
thence  by  tramway  we  went  on  to  Portsmouth.  Here  we 
bought  tickets  for  Brighton;  and,  when  we  had  come  to 
this  well-known  watering-place,  hearing  there  was  a 
Queen's  Hotel  in  the  town — as  this  name  seems  always 
of  good  omen  to  me  in  England — I  called  a  cab  and  di- 
rected the  driver  to  take  us  to  this  hotel.  My  expec- 
tation was  correct;  here  we  found  excellent  accommoda- 
tions. 

Every  arrangement  having  been  made  that  the  ladies 
should  be  comfortably  provided  for,  I  went  out  to  look 
about  and  see  if  I  could  ascertain  whether  the  news  con- 
cerning the  Prince,  which  I  had  seen  in  the  paper  at 
Ryde,  was  correct.  The  London  evening  papers,  which 
had  just  arrived,  confirmed  the  report  that  the  Prince 
was  in  England:  and  soon  after  I  met  several  friends  on 
the  Promenade,   who,   to  my  inquiries,   replied  that  the 


MEETING    OF    MOTHER    AND    SON       385 

Prince  was  actually  at  Hastings,  and  stopping  at  the 
Marine  Hotel. 

My  doubts  being  thus  removed,  I  returned  to  the 
Queen's  Hotel,  and  during  dinner  repeated  what  I  had 
heard.  This  news  had  an  electrical  effect  upon  her  Maj- 
esty. She  rose  up  quickly,  left  the  table,  and  insisted 
upon  going  immediately  to  meet  her  son.  Seeing  that  all 
remonstrance  would  be  in  vain,  I  asked  the  porter  of  the 
hotel  at  what  hour  trains  for  St.  Leonard's  would  be 
leaving,  and  learned  that,  if  we  wished  to  take  the  next 
train,  we  should  have  but  a  few  minutes  to  spare.  We 
therefore  hastily  got  ready  to  leave  the  hotel,  procured 
a  closed  cab,  and  arrived  at  the  railway  station  just  before 
the  train  left. 

The  name  St.  Leonard's  I  had  not  chosen  at  random, 
for  I  really  wished  to  go  only  as  far  as  this  place,  which 
is  the  last  station  before  arriving  at  Hastings.  I  thought 
it  would  not  be  wise  for  her  Majesty  to  go  to  her  son, 
it  being  rather  his  duty  to  come  to  her,  after  I  had  an- 
nounced to  him  her  arrival  in  England  and  where  he  could 
meet  her.  Although,  from  the  point  of  view  of  sentiment 
and  affection,  it  might  be  a  matter  of  indifference  as  to 
where  the  meeting  should  take  place,  or  whether  the  son 
should  come  to  his  mother  or  the  mother  should  go  to  her 
son,  I  was  certain  that,  in  case  her  Majesty's  arrival  in 
England  should  become  publicly  known,  her  every  step 
would  be  reported  and  commented  upon  in  the  newspapers, 
and  I  thought  it  was  not  to  her  interest  at  this  time  to 
become  the  subject  of  much  publicity. 

Another  reason  why  I  desired  her  Majesty  should  not 
go  to  Hastings  was  the  fact  that  the  words  "  Marine 
Hotel,"  the  name  of  the  house  where  the  Prince  had 
taken  rooms,  suggested  to  my  mind  a  kind  of  sailors' 
hoarding-house,  or  hotel  of  the  second-class.  For  this 
thought  I  beg  the  pardon  of  the  most  excellent  people  who 
kept  the  hotel,  which  proved  to  be  all  that  could  be  wished, 


386         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

and  who  treated  the  Prince,  as  well  as  the  Empress  and 
myself,  with  the  greatest  kindness  from  the  moment  of 
our  arrival  until  our  departure. 

Then  again,  before  we  left  Brighton  I  knew  nothing 
of  Hastings,  never  having  been  there;  but  I  had  heard 
that  in  St.  Leonard's  there  was  a  large  and  well-known 
hotel,  which  I  thought  would  be  a  place  where  her  Majesty 
could  meet  her  son  very  properly  and  conveniently.  Be- 
ing nevertheless  afraid  that  I  should  meet  with  objections 
from  her  Majesty  were  I  to  advise  her  not  to  go  on  to 
Hastings,  I  kept  my  own  counsel,  and,  without  her  knowl- 
edge, took  tickets  only  as  far  as  St.  Leonard's.  This  de- 
vice proved,  however,  to  be  in  vain,  for  her  Majesty,  on 
getting  out  of  the  train,  inquired  at  once,  "  Is  my  son 
here?  " 

"  No — n-not  exactly  here,"  I  stammered  out,  "  b-but 
quite  near — at — at  the  next  station.  As  soon  as  we  have 
secured  rooms  at  the  hotel  I  will  go  there  and  bring  him 
over. ' ' 

Of  this  the  Empress  would  not  hear.  And  although 
I  stated  to  her  my  apprehensions  with  respect  to  the  com- 
ments of  the  press,  and  my  doubts  as  to  the  respectability 
of  the  Marine  Hotel,  and  finally  drew  her  attention  to 
the  fact  that  it  would  be  better  to  wait  until  next  morn- 
ing for  a  meeting,  as  the  evening  was  advanced  and  she 
was  much  fatigued,  her  Majesty  was  so  anxious  to  see  the 
Prince  that  she  would  not  listen  to  my  remonstrances,  and 
insisted  upon  going  by  the  very  next  train  to  Hastings. 
Upon  inquiry,  we  found  that  this  train  would  leave  within 
twenty-five  minutes,  and  not  knowing  Hastings  was  so 
near  St.  Leonard's  that  we  could  easily  have  driven  there 
in  a  cab,  we  walked  up  and  down  the  platform  to  pass 
away  the  time.  The  twenty-five  minutes  which  we  had 
to  wait  seemed  a  century,  so  to  speak,  to  the  Empress, 
she  was  in  such  haste,  so  nervously  impatient,  to  see  her 
son.     And  Madame  Lebreton  and  I  were  greatly  relieved, 


MEETING    OF    MOTHER    AND    SON       387 

for  her  Majesty's  sake,  when  the  train  that  was  to  take 
us  on  entered  the  station. 

It  was  about  ten  o'clock  when  we  arrived  at  Has- 
tings. Leaving  the  ladies  in  the  Havelock  Hotel,  near 
the  railway  station,  I  went  myself  to  the  Marine  Hotel, 
where  the  Prince  Imperial  was  staying.  When  I  asked 
the  person  in  the  office  to  announce  me  to  his  Imperial 
Highness,  I  was  told  that  I  would  probably  not  be  able 
to  see  the  Prince  that  night,  since  it  was  already  late, 
and  his  Highness  had  wished  to  retire  early,  on  account 
of  an  indisposition  from  which  he  had  suffered  during 
the  last  few  days.  "  If,  however,"  said  the  clerk,  "  you 
choose  to  mount  the  stairs,  you  will  find  in  the  drawing- 
room  some  of  the  friends  of  the  Prince,  who  no  doubt 
can  give  you  information  about  him."  Hearing  this,  I 
went  up  to  this  room,  and  when  the  door  was  opened, 
I  saw  his  Highness,  surrounded  by  several  gentlemen  who 
had  come  with  him  from  the  Continent.  As  soon  as  the 
Prince  saw  me,  he  stepped  quickly  towards  me,  and  ex- 
claimed :  ' '  Have  you  any  news  of  my  mother  ?  Where 
is  she?  Nobody  can  tell  me  whether  she  is  still  in  Paris, 
or  whether  she  has  left  France.  It  is  now  four  days  that 
no  one  has  known  what  has  become  of  her.  And  I  am 
so  anxious !  Do  tell  me  if  you  have  heard  anything  about 
her!  " 

The  rapidity  with  which  the  Prince  spoke,  scarcely 
waiting  for  an  answer,  indicated  very  clearly  his  deep 
concern  for  his  mother's  safety,  the  warmth  of  his  affec- 
tion for  her,  and  that  now  she  was  the  principal  subject 
of  his  thought. 

"  Oh,"  I  replied,  as  soon  as  I  had  a  chance  to  speak, 
"I  am  sure  your  mother  is  safe.  She  is  not  in  France; 
and  I  have  just  heard  she  is  in  England,  having  reached 
here  some  time  to-day." 

"  But  where  did  she  land?     Whore  is  she  now?  ' 

"  With  friends,  I  understand,  under  Avhose  protection 


388         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

she  left  Paris.  If  your  Highness  will  wait  a  little  while, 
I  will  make  further  inquiries,  and  perhaps,  on  my  return, 
I  shall  be  able  to  inform  you  positively  where  your  mother 
now  is." 

The  Prince,  as  soon  as  I  held  out  to  him  the  hope  of 
receiving  news  of  his  mother,  was  greatly  delighted,  and 
said  he  should  most  certainly  not  retire  for  the  night  until 
he  had  heard  what  I  had  to  report.  Promising  that  I 
would  not  keep  him  waiting  long,  I  left  the  Prince,  and 
returned  to  the  Empress  to  announce  to  her  that  I  had 
seen  her  son,  and  to  arrange  with  her  a  time  and  place 
for  their  meeting. 

The  reader  may  perhaps  be  surprised  that  I  did  not 
at  once  tell  the  Prince  Imperial  the  whole  truth.  It  was 
because  I  saw  from  the  manner  of  the  Prince,  immediately 
he  spoke  to  me,  that  to  do  so  would  not  be  expedient. 
He  was,  as  all  who  knew  him  personally  are  aware,  of 
a  highly  sensitive  and  emotional  nature.  He  was  then 
only  fourteen  years  old,  and,  after  his  father  had  become 
a  prisoner,  had  been  hurried  through  Belgium  to  England, 
and  from  one  excitement  to  another,  without  rest  either 
of  body  or  mind,  until  his  nerves  were  in  a  state  of  ex- 
treme tension.  I  therefore  thought  it  prudent  to  let  him 
at  first,  only  know  that  there  was  good  reason  to  believe 
his  mother  was  safe,  and  to  prepare  his  mind  for  the 
reunion  with  her  by  suggesting  to  him  that  such  a  meeting 
might  be  expected  very  soon. 

On  my  way  back  I  was  still  thinking  how  I  could  in- 
duce the  Empress  to  receive  her  son  at  her  own  hotel, 
for  I  believed  this  to  be  the  better  plan,  for  reasons  which 
I  have  stated  above;  but  as  soon  as  I  found  myself  once 
more  in  the  presence  of  her  Majesty,  I  saw  that  no  reason 
I  could  give  for  a  postponement  of  the  meeting  would  find 
favor  with  her.  All  her  thought  seemed  entirely  engrossed 
by  the  hopes  and  anticipations  of  this  meeting.  On  enter- 
ing the  room,  I  found  her  sitting  in  a  chair  in  exactly  the 


MEETING    OF    MOTHER    AND    SON       389 

same  position  in  which  I  had  left  her,  with  a  little  satchel 
in  her  hand,  and  waiting,  apparently  ready  to  start  off 
at  a  moment's  notice.  The  instant  she  saw  me  she  sprang 
up,  and  rushing  towards  me,  said : 

'  Tell  me,  have  you  seen  my  son?     Is  he  well?     How 
does  he  look?  " 

These  and  similar  questions  followed  each  other  in 
quick  succession.  As  soon  as  I  had  informed  her  Majesty 
that  I  had  seen  the  Prince;  that,  with  the  exception  of 
a  slight  cold,  he  seemed  to  be  in  good  health;  and  had 
told  her  how  anxious  he  had  been  to  receive  news  of  his 
mother,  nothing  could  keep  her  any  longer  in  the  room; 
and  half  drawing  me  with  her  to  the  door,  she  hurried 
me  out  of  the  house  and  into  the  street,  exclaiming: 
' '  Where  is  he  ?     Let  me  go  to  him  at  once !  ' 

Running  rather  than  walking  through  the  streets,  we 
directed  our  steps  towards  the  Marine  Hotel ;  and  in  a  few 
moments  we — the  Empress,  Madame  Lebreton,  and  my- 
self— stood  in  the  office  of  the  building  which  I  had 
left  scarcely  half  an  hour  before.  When  I  announced  to 
the  hotel  proprietor  that  we  desired  to  see  the  Prince 
Imperial,  he  looked  closely  at  the  Empress,  and  taking  her, 
as  he  afterward  told  me,  on  account  of  her  having  put  the 
,  cape  of  her  waterproof  over  her  head,  for  a  Sister  of  Char- 
ity, replied  that  it  was  too  late ;  that  he  thought  the  Prince 
had  retired  to  his  room  and  did  not  wish  to  see  any  one. 
We  told  him  we  did  not  think  so;  that,  in  any  event, 
we  would  go  up-stairs  and  see.  But  having  reached  the 
top  of  the  staircase,  an  English  valet-de-chambre,  who  had 
evidently  heard  our  conversation  or  guessed  our  intention, 
barred  our  way  with  the  words:  "  The  Prince  has  gone 
to  bed.  If  you  wish  to  see  him  you  will  have  to  come 
another  day." 

During  my  brief  interview  with  the  Prince  I  had  ob- 
served that  folding-doors  separated  the  drawing-room  from 
another  room,  which  was  probably,  as  I  thought,  in  tho 


390         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

private  suite  of  his  Highness.  While  the  valet  was  still 
talking,  I  saw  there  was  an  entrance  from  the  corridor 
where  we  stood  into  this  room.  Pushing  by  him,  without 
speaking  another  word,  I  opened  the  door,  and  seeing  at  a 
glance  that  the  room  was  occupied  by  the  Prince,  hurried 
her  Majesty  and  Madame  Lebreton  into  it,  and  leaving 
them,  walked  into  the  drawing-room  where  the  Prince  was 
standing. 

Upon  encountering  his  inquiring  look,  I  simply  pointed 
to  the  door  through  which  I  had  entered.  He  understood 
me,  and  in  another  moment  he  was  in  the  presence  of  his 
mother. 

What  a  moment  in  the  history  of  these  two  persons! 
This  noble  woman,  who  had  kept  up  so  bravely  during 
the  most  trying  hours  of  her  flight,  could  restrain  her 
emotion  no  longer.  The  tears  of  joy  flowed  abundantly, 
and  her  lips  murmured  words  of  thanks  to  Heaven,  which 
had  preserved  to  her  that  son  who  had  been  her  pride  and 
delight,  and  the  sight  of  whom  now  caused  her  to  forget 
all  she  had  lost  and  all  she  had  suffered. 

But  was  the  past  quite  forgotten  at  this  meeting? 
Had  really  all  remembrance  of  those  days  of  splendor  and 
triumph  vanished  from  her  memory? 

No,  indeed,  the  past  could  not  have  been  forgotten  by 
her;  for  although  joy  and  gratitude  filled  her  heart,  as 
she  pressed  her  child  to  her  breast,  this  joy  was  mingled 
with  sorrow.  What  pictures  must  have  flashed  across  her 
mind,  what  thoughts  have  disturbed  her  soul? — the  mem- 
ory of  her  happy  childhood;  her  brilliant  womanhood; 
the  realization  of  her  most  daring  wishes;  her  son,  the 
heir  to  the  glory  and  the  throne  of  Napoleon ;  and,  at  last, 
the  downfall  that  came  like  a  thunderbolt  from  a  serene 
sky,  annihilating  all  the  splendor  which  for  so  many 
years  had  surrounded  her,  and  leaving  her  a  homeless, 
helpless  woman,  with  her  son,  both  fugitives  in  a  foreign 
land. 


MEETING    OF    MOTHER    AND    SON       391 

However  inarticulate  her  thoughts,  she  must  have  been 
vividly  impressed  by  her  immediate  surroundings,  and 
felt  their  deep  significance,  as  she  stood  before  me,  em- 
bracing her  son  with  tears  of  joy  and  sorrow  in  her  eyes. 
The  Prince,  unable  to  control  his  emotion,  sobbed  as  he 
rested  in  his  mother's  arms,  and  in  broken  sentences  told 
how  he  had  grieved  for  her,  and  how  rejoiced  he  was  to 
be  with  her  once  more. 

The  spontaneous  and  impulsive  manifestations  of  mater- 
nal and  filial  affection,  of  which  I  was  a  witness  on  this 
occasion,  were,  under  the  special  circumstances,  extremely 
touching,  and  I  stepped  out  of  the  room,  overcome  by  a 
feeling  of  sympathy  and  profound  pity,  leaving  mother 
and  son  to  themselves,  alone. 

And  what  a  meeting !  She,  who  only  a  few  days  before 
was  the  most  exalted,  the  most  envied  sovereign  in  Europe, 
now  deserted  by  all  who  had  been  proud  to  obtain  a  glance 
from  her  eye  or  a  word  from  her  lips,  is  unable  to  offer 
to  her  child,  whose  Imperial  heritage  has  vanished,  any- 
thing but  Love — the  imperishable  love  of  a  mother. 
What  a  drama !  And  yet  what  a  triumph !  For  the 
glory  of  the  world  passeth  away,  and  love  endureth 
forever. 

After  a  while  the  Prince  Imperial  came  to  me  and 
expressed  in  the  warmest  terms  his  thanks  for  my  hav- 
ing restored  his  mother  to  him,  for  he  had  now  learned 
from  her  that  it  was  to  me  that  she  had  gone  for  pro- 
tection when  she  found  herself  in  the  streets  of  Paris 
alone  and  helpless,  and  that  I  had  brought  her  in 
safety  to  England.  It  was  plainly  to  be  seen,  from  his 
bright  and  happy  face,  that  the  loss  of  an  Empire 
had  troubled  him  much  less  than  his  anxiety  for  her 
whom  he  loved  so  dearly,  and  of  whose  fate  he  had  so 
long  been  kept  in  ignorance.  And  those  must  have  been 
bitter  hours  for  the  heir  to  the  French  Empire — his  father 


392         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

a  prisoner  in  the  enemy's  country,  his  mother  probably 
at  the  mercy  of  a  mob,  perhaps  already  a  victim,  while 
he  himself  was  fleeing  for  safety  to  a  foreign  shore,  and 
vainly  trying  to  ascertain  what  had  taken  place  since  he 
had  left  the  head-quarters  of  the  French  army ! 

But  here,  at  Hastings,  mother  and  son  were  reunited, 
and  the  first  ray  of  sunlight  pierced  the  darkness  which 
for  many  days  had  covered  the  destiny  of  the  Imperial 
family. 

Before  the  Empress  had  met  her  son,  it  was  agreed  be- 
tween us  that  she  should  return  to  Brighton  after  their 
meeting;  but  this  plan,  very  naturally,  was  not  executed. 
Mother  and  son  had  no  wish  to  separate  after  they  had 
found  each  other.  On  this  account  former  plans  were 
changed,  and  the  Empress  and  the  Prince  Imperial  re- 
mained together  in  Hastings. 

It  was  at  a  rather  late  hour  that  I  left  the  Marine  Hotel 
and  returned  to  the  Havelock  Hotel,  where  we  had  tem- 
porarily stopped  on  arriving  at  Hastings.  On  the  follow- 
ing morning,  when  I  went  to  the  Marine  Hotel  to  learn 
the  Empress'  wishes,  to  my  great  regret  I  found  her  con- 
fined to  her  bed  from  exhaustion,  and  suffering  also  from 
a  severe  cold.  Her  Majesty  had  already  a  slight  cold  when, 
she  came  to  my  house  on  September  4th,  and  it  was  no 
wonder  that  her  exposure  on  our  journey  through  France, 
and  during  the  rough  night  on  the  Channel,  had  aggra- 
vated it.  Besides,  the  continued  excitement  and  loss  of 
sleep,  and  the  anxiety  to  which  she  had  been  subjected 
for  many  days,  and  weeks  even,  were  too  much  for  human 
strength  to  support ;  and  although  she  had  kept  up  bravely 
under  the  most  severe  trials,  and  had  not  given  way  while 
she  was  sustained  by  the  hope  of  seeing  her  son,  now  that 
this  most  fervent  wish  of  her  heart  had  been  realized,  a 
reaction  followed,  which  kept  her  in  her  room  for  several 
days. 

Her  Majesty's  arrival  in  England  was  now  publicly 


MEETING    OF    MOTHER    AND    SON       393 

announced,  and  friends  began  to  gather  about  her — the 
Duke  and  Duchess  de  Mouchy,  M.  de  Lavalette,  the  Prin- 
cess Murat,  and  others.  But  the  situation  in  France,  which 
grew  more  serious  from  day  to  day,  made  it  probable  that 
her  Majesty's  sojourn  in  England  would  last  for  weeks, 
perhaps  for  months;  and  possibly  the  thought  may  have 
already  occurred  to  her  that  England  might  become  her 
permanent  home.  However  this  may  have  been,  Has- 
tings was  not  at  this  time  a  desirable  place  of  residence 
for  the  Empress.  There  were  too  many  people  coming 
and  going,  and  it  was  also  the  rendezvous  of  too  much 
fashion  and  too  much  curiosity.  The  Empress  very  soon 
began  to  be  annoyed,  and  she  expressed  to  me  a  wish  that 
I  would  obtain  for  her,  as  quickly  as  possible,  a  suitable 
residence,  where  she  might  feel  that  she  had  some  personal 
freedom,  and  where  she  could  conveniently  receive  her 
friends. 

On  Sunday,  the  11th,  I  received  a  telegram  from  Mrs. 
Evans,  to  whom  I  had  reported  our  arrival  at  Ryde  soon 
after  we  landed  there.  In  this  telegram  she  informed  me 
that  she,  in  company  with  Doctor  and  Miss  Sharpless, 
old  friends  from  Philadelphia,  who  had  been  with  us 
at  the  Hotel  du  Casino  in  Deauville,  would,  coming 
by  way  of  Dieppe,  arrive  at  Newhaven  on  Wednes- 
day morning,  September  14th.  And  there  I  went  to 
meet  her.  The  boat  came  in  several  hours  behind  time, 
after  a  terribly  rough  passage.  It  was  crowded  with 
refugees,  men,  women,  and  children  all  huddled  together, 
everybody  sick,  large  numbers  on  deck,  drenched  and 
looking  utterly  miserable.  My  poor  wife  had  been  ' '  dread- 
fully ill,"  but  quickly  recovered  on  coming  ashore.  She 
accompanied  me  to  Hastings,  where  we  took  rooms  at  the 
Albion  Hotel. 

As  soon  as  we  were  settled  there  we  made  excursions 
into  the  country  almost  every  day,  visiting  the  villas  which 
were  to  let,  and  trying  to  obtain  a  suitable  residence  for 


394         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

the  Empress.  I  had,  when  this  matter  was  first  mentioned 
to  me,  entered  into  correspondence  with  a  number  of  house- 
agents;  and  a  residence  in  Torquay,  which  I  visited,  I 
found  very  attractive.  Indeed,  I  was  so  convinced  it  left 
nothing  to  be  desired  as  a  temporary  home  for  the  Em- 
press that  I  engaged  to  take  it,  conditionally.  I  was,  how- 
ever, obliged  to  cancel  the  arrangement  which  I  had  made, 
her  Majesty  having  expressed  to  me  a  desire  to  live  not 
far  from  London,  as  a  matter  of  convenience  to  the  friends 
who  might  wish  to  visit  her;  because,  she  said,  "  I  wish 
to  save  them  a  long  journey,  and  to  many  of  them,  also, 
the  expense  of  going  to  a  place  so  far  from  France  might 
be  embarrassing." 

This  generous  consideration  on  the  part  of  the  Em- 
press is  in  very  striking  contrast  with  the  behavior  of 
many  of  those  in  whose  friendship  at  that  time  she  still 
believed.  The  years  have  come  and  gone,  but  they  have 
never  thought  it  their  duty  or  found  it  convenient  to  visit 
their  exiled  sovereign,  who  always  felt  so  kindly  towards 
them. 

One  humble,  simple  friend,  however,  did  not  hesitate 
to  go  to  Hastings  as  soon  as  she  heard  that  her  former 
mistress  and  the  Prince  Imperial  had  arrived  there.  This 
person  was  Miss  Shaw,  the  faithful  nurse  of  the  young 
Prince — "  Nana,"  as  he,  when  a  child,  used  to  call  her. 
She  had  remained  in  the  Tuileries  as  long  as  she  had  been 
permitted  to  do  so,  and  then  she  left  for  England;  for, 
although  she  had  no  idea  of  what  had  become  of  the  Em- 
press or  the  Prince,  she  nevertheless  felt  sure  she  should 
find  his  Imperial  Highness  in  that  country.  To  her  great 
joy,  on  arriving  at  Dover  she  heard  that  the  Prince,  with 
Count  Clary,  had  passed  through  Dover,  coming  from 
Belgium.  On  inquiring,  she  was  informed  he  had  gone 
to  Hastings.  Immediately  she  hastened  to  this  place,  and 
thus,  as  early  as  the  10th,  she  was  able  to  see  again  "  her 


MEETING    OF    MOTHER    AND    SON       395 

boy,"  as  she  always  called  the  Prince,  her  affection  for 
whom  absorbed  her  whole  soul. 

This  faithful  woman  had  been  sent  to  Paris  by  Sir 
Charles  Locock,  after  the  Empress'  confinement,  at  the 
special  request  of  her  Majesty,  the  Queen  of  Great  Brit- 
ain; and  her  tender  love  for  the  Imperial  child,  and  her 
unalterable  devotion  to  the  Imperial  family,  had  fully 
justified  the  recommendations  which  had  been  given  her. 
From  the  moment  she  entered  the  Palace  of  the  Tuileries 
until  the  death  of  the  Prince  Imperial,  all  her  energy,  her 
whole  life,  was  devoted  to  the  welfare  of  the  boy  who  had 
been  confided  to  her  care.  She  had  in  a  short  time  gained 
the  entire  confidence  of  the  Emperor  and  Empress,  who 
wished  her  to  remain  as  a  guardian  of  the  Prince  in  the 
palace  when  her  duties  as  nurse  were  no  longer  required. 

She  not  only  had  a  care  for  the  bodily  welfare  of 
her  trust,  but  she  tried  to  instil  into  the  heart  of  the  boy 
all  the  noble  principles  which  are  needed  by  one  who  is 
to  become  the  ruler  of  a  great  nation ;  and  she  had  also 
made  it  her  duty  to  watch  over  the  health  of  his  soul. 
She  had  strictly  kept  him  to  the  observance  of  his  religious 
duties,  which  was  the  more  remarkable,  as  she,  being  a 
Protestant,  had  charge  of  a  child  brought  up  in  the  Cath- 
olic faith.  And  while  it  was  easy  for  her  to  develop  in 
the  open  and  impressionable  mind  of  the  young  Prince  a 
clear  and  abiding  sense  of  right  and  of  wrong,  she  did 
not  fail  to  cultivate  in  him  that  reverence  and  respect  for 
truth,  and  for  law,  which  she  herself  felt  as  the  result  of 
her  own  English  education. 

When  this  excellent  woman,  who  had  always  had  an 
important  voice  in  the  councils  of  the  Imperial  family,  if 
anything  regarding  the  future  of  the  Prince  was  to  be  de- 
cided, heard  the  sad  news  of  the  premature  death  of  the 
young  soldier  in  Zululand,  she  said  to  me:  "  He  was  too 
good  for  this  world.  God  has  saved  him  from  severer 
trials,  and  I  shall  soon  go  to  him." 


396         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

Her  apprehension  proved  to  have  been  correct.  The 
faithful  nurse  only  outlived  her  foster-child  by  three  years. 
She  died  in  1882. 

Besides  Miss  Shaw  and  the  persons  whose  names  I 
have  mentioned,  there  came  to  Hastings  very  few  visitors. 
Those  courtiers  who  had  formerly  been  daily  guests  at  the 
Palace  of  the  Tuileries,  did  not  come  over  to  England  until 
much  later,  after  her  Majesty  had  taken  up  her  residence 
at  Chislehurst. 

Camden  Place,  Chislehurst,  which  afterward  became  so 
well  known  as  the  home  of  the  Imperial  family,  I  discov- 
ered by  a  fortunate  accident,  after  searching  many  days 
in  vain  for  a  residence  for  the  Empress  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  London.  Although  I  had  seen  a  considerable 
number  of  fine  houses,  scarcely  one  of  them  seemed  to  me 
to  be  perfectly  suitable  or  desirable,  either  on  account  of 
the  locality  or  the  accommodations,  or  on  account  of  the 
conditions  which  the  landlord  wanted  to  impose  upon  the 
tenant,  and  occasionally  these  were  even  embarrassing,  as, 
for  example,  when  letters  were  addressed  to  me  by  gentle- 
men placing  at  her  Majesty's  disposal  their  houses  and 
villas,  free  of  every  charge.  It  is  scarcely  necessary  to 
say  that  these  offers  were  most  decidedly  but  courteously 
refused  by  the  Empress. 

In  a  conversation  which  I  once  had  with  the  Emperor, 
he  told  me  that  some  of  the  most  agreeable  days  during 
his  long  sojourn  in  England  had  been  passed  at  Tunbridge 
Wells.  He  praised  the  beautiful  scenery,  and  spoke  of 
the  magnificent  trees  which  he  had  seen  there,  and  mani- 
fested a  strong  predilection  for  the  place.  The  remem- 
brance of  this  conversation  induced  me  to  see  if  it  was 
possible  to  find  a  residence  for  the  Imperial  family  at 
Tunbridge  Wells ;  for  we  all  hoped  that  the  Emperor  would 
soon  be  permitted  by  the  Prussian  Government  to  leave 
Wilhelmshohe  and  rejoin  his  wife  and  son  in  England. 


MEETING    OF    MOTHER    AND    SON       397 

I  consequently  went  to  Tunbridge  Wells,  and  succeeded 
in  finding  a  place  there  which  I  thought  would  probably 
meet  all  the  immediate  requirements  of  the  Imperial 
household;  but  just  before  speaking  to  the  owner  upon 
the  subject,  a  gentleman  mentioned  to  me  Camden  Place, 
at  Chislehurst.  He  described  it  as  a  large  and  beautiful 
country-seat,  close  to  London  and  yet  secluded,  saying  it 
was  just  what  I  wanted,  but  that,  unfortunately,  it  was 
not  to  let.  Believing  from  the  description  he  gave  me 
that  the  place  was  really  a  very  desirable  one,  and  not 
allowing  his  last  remark  to  deter  me — after  having  heard 
that  Chislehurst  was  so  near  London  that  it  could  be 
reached  in  twenty  minutes  from  Charing  Cross  station — 
Mrs.  Evans  and  I  took  tickets  for  this  place. 

On  arriving  at  Chislehurst  station,  I  hailed  the  first 
conveyance  I  saw,  and  a  few  minutes  later  we  halted  at 
the  gate  in  front  of  Camden  Place.  At  the  entrance,  Mrs. 
Taylor,  the  lodge-keeper,  received  us,  and  I  asked  her  a  few 
questions  about  the  house.  She  replied  that  Camden  Place 
could  not  be  rented,  and  expressed  doubt  as  to  whether  it 
could  be  visited.  Hearing  me,  however,  speak  a  few  words 
in  French  to  Mrs.  Evans,  she  seemed  to  reconsider  the 
matter,  and  exclaimed : 

"  Oh,  if  you  speak  French  you  may  perhaps  be  ad- 
mitted into  the  house.  There  is  a  gentleman  living  here 
— Mr.  Foder — who  also  speaks  French,  and  if  you  would 
like  to  see  him  I  will  go  and  call  him." 

"With  these  words,  after  inviting  us  to  come  into  the 
lodge,  the  lodge-keeper  hastened  to  the  house,  and  before 
long  returned  in  company  with  a  man  who  informed  us 
that  he  had  charge  of  the  property,  which  belonged  to  a 
Mr.  Strode.  After  we  had  conversed  for  a  few  moments, 
he  very  kindly  offered  to  show  us  over  the  place — an  offer 
Ave  gladly  accepted. 

The  house  was  a  large,  well-constructed  building,  built 
of  brick  and  stone,  with  projecting  wings  in  front,  sur- 
27 


398         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

mounted  by  balustraded  parapets.  The  facade  was  well 
exposed  and  very  handsome.  The  house  was  approached 
by  a  fine  sweep  of  roadway,  and  contained,  as  I  ascertained 
on  inquiry,  several  large  living-rooms,  twenty  or  more  bed- 
rooms, and  the  offices  for  a  full  establishment.  The  stable 
accommodation  also  was  ample.  I  saw  at  once  that  the 
grounds  were  quite  extensive,  and  handsomely  laid  out. 
The  main  avenue  from  the  gate  to  the  house  was  lined 
with  elms  and  beeches,  and  the  broad  stretches  of  well- 
kept  lawn  were  broken  here  and  there  by  foliage  plants 
and  beds  of  flowers,  and  were  decorated  with  statuary; 
while,  not  far  from  the  house,  a  massive  group  of  cedars 
branched  out  conspicuously  and  threw  into  relief  the  body 
of  the  building.  The  impression  produced  upon  us,  as  we 
passed  through  the  park,  was  extremely  pleasing ;  the  color 
was  so  soft  and  yet  so  varied,  the  calm,  the  restfulness,  so 
complete,  that  the  place  seemed  to  be  indeed  an  ideal  re- 
treat for  one  seeking  a  surcease  from  the  turmoil  and 
trouble  of  the  world.  Upon  entering  the  house,  we  were 
surprised  to  find  in  it  so  many  articles  of  French  manu- 
facture. The  long  hall  lighted  by  a  skylight,  the  large 
drawing-room,  the  fine  staircase  leading  to  the  floor  above, 
and  the  arrangement  of  the  very  handsome  rooms,  with 
the  furniture  and  other  fittings,  gave  me  at  once  the  im- 
pression of  being  in  a  veritable  French  chateau.  I  was 
consequently  not  surprised  when  I  was  told  that  some  of 
the  furniture  came  from  the  Chateau  of  Bercy ;  but  it  was 
certainly  remarkable,  as  was  discovered  some  time  after- 
ward, that  several  of  the  pieces  of  carved  mahogany  in 
the  dining-room  were  exactly  similar  to  a  number  that,  on 
the  demolition  of  this  chateau,  had  been  purchased  by  the 
Empress  at  the  same  auction  sale  of  the  woodwork  and 
other  fixtures,  and  had  been  placed  in  the  residence  she 
had  built  in  Paris  for  her  sister,  the  Duchess  of  Albe. 
Moreover,  the  building  was  beautifully  situated ;  in  a  word, 
it  seemed  to  me  more  attractive  than  any  I  had  visited 


&  It  Cv 


u 

Oh 

a 
- 

o 


MEETING    OF    MOTHER    AND    SON       399 

during  the  previous  days,  and  pleased  me  greatly.  I 
therefore,  observing  the  excellent  French  taste  with  which 
Camden  House  was  furnished,  remarked  to  Mr.  Foder  that 
it  afforded  me  much  pleasure  to  see  myself  again,  so  to  say, 
in  a  French  interieur.  Then,  leading  the  conversation  to 
France  itself,  and  speaking  of  the  misfortunes  which  had 
so  recently  befallen  that  nation,  and  of  the  sad  conse- 
quences which  they  must  have,  not  only  for  that  beautiful 
land  but  also  for  many  of  its  inhabitants,  and  especially 
for  the  Imperial  family,  I  at  last  said  it  was  for  this  fam- 
ily, some  of  whose  members  were  then  in  England,  that 
I  was  seeking  a  residence.  The  conversation  which  fol- 
lowed led  in  a  few  moments  to  the  plain  statement  that 
our  object  in  coming  here  was  to  inquire  if  Camden  Place 
could  possibly  be  obtained  for  her  Majesty,  the  Empress 
of  the  French.  When  Mr.  Foder  heard  this,  he  told  me 
that  although  Camden  Place  was  not  to  be  leased,  he  be- 
lieved that  Mr.  Strode,  whose  French  sympathies  were 
very  strong,  and  who  had  often  spoken  with  admiration 
of  the  Imperial  family,  would  gladly  place  his  property 
at  the  disposal  of  the  Empress  and  her  son,  without  ask- 
ing any  remuneration  for  it. 

To  this  remark  I  replied  that  many  such  offers  had 
already  been  made  and  refused:  but  that  if  the  house 
could  be  rented,  I  would  like  to  engage  it,  as  I  considered 
it  the  most  suitable  of  all  I  had  seen,  and  was  sure  her 
Majesty  would  be  pleased  with  my  choice,  not  only  because 
the  house  was  conveniently  near  London,  but  also  on  ac- 
count of  the  extent  and  disposition  of  the  grounds  about 
it,  and  the  arrangement  of  the  interior,  which  even  to  its 
furnishing  was  French;  besides,  Camden  Place  was  near 
a  Catholic  church,  and  this,  I  knew,  would  be  very  agree- 
able to  the  Empress,  who  always  faithfully  attended  the 
services  of  her  church,  wherever  and  whenever  it  was 
possible  for  her  to  do  so. 

Thereupon  Mr.  Foder  kindly  proposed  to  go  to  London 


400         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

by  the  next  train,  to  state  the  case  to  Mr.  Strode,  whom  he 
said  he  was  sure  to  find  at  the  Garriek  Club  that  night. 
This  proposal  I  accepted  with  thanks,  and  after  leaving 
my  address,  Mrs.  Evans  and  I  returned  to  Hastings. 

The  next  day,  September  22d,  I  again  took  Mrs.  Evans 
to  Chislehurst  to  see  the  house  in  question.  We  examined 
it  very  thoroughly.  My  wife  thought  it  really  "  palatial," 
and  the  situation  "  exquisite,"  so  calm  and  restful  were 
the  surroundings.  We  afterward  went  on  together  to  Lon- 
don, where  we  lunched  with  Mr.  Strode. 

At  a  late  hour  the  same  evening  I  received  a  despatch 
from  Mr.  Foder,  making  an  appointment  with  me  to  meet 
him  at  Chislehurst  the  following  morning;  and  upon  ar- 
riving at  Camden  Place  the  next  day  at  the  appointed 
hour,  we  heard  that  Mr.  Strode,  who  had  been  obliged  to 
remain  in  London,  had  consented  to  let  his  property  to  her 
Majesty. 

This  was  welcome  news,  not  only  to  me  but  to  Madame 
Lebreton  and  Mademoiselle  d'Albe,  the  Empress'  niece, 
who,  having  come  up  that  morning  from  Hastings  to  visit 
the  place,  had  both  been  greatly  pleased  with  the  house 
and  the  situation.  We  therefore — Mr.  Foder  and  I — at 
once  drew  up  a  lease  by  which  Camden  Place  was  to  be 
rented  for  a  given  time,  at  a  given  rate,  and  on  terms 
entirely  satisfactory  to  all  parties. 

A  few  weeks  later,  on  my  last  visit  to  Camden  Place 
before  leaving  for  the  Continent,  Mr.  Foder  took  me  to 
the  railway  station  in  a  light  carriage,  which  was  drawn 
by  a  very  fine  but  rather  unruly  horse.  We  proceeded 
at  a  rapid  pace,  evidently  to  the  delight  of  the  owner  of 
the  horse,  and  one  could  not  deny  that  the  animal  pos- 
sessed remarkable  qualities  and  was  very  spirited;  but  its 
gait  was  unsteady,  it  was  apparently  imperfectly  broken, 
and  it  had  an  eye  that  indicated  a  fiery  and  capricious 
temperament.  Seeing  that  Mr.  Foder  was  greatly  pleased 
with  the  spirit  and  action  of  the  animal,  and  thinking  he 


MEETING    OF    MOTHER    AND    SON       401 

might  desire  to  have  the  horse  display  its  points  before 
other  visitors,  and  possibly  the  new  occupants  of  Camden 
Place,  I  said  to  him,  when  bidding  him  good-by :  ' '  Mr. 
Foder,  I  am  greatly  obliged  to  you  for  bringing  me  to  the 
station,  and  am  especially  thankful  that  I  have  got  here 
safe  and  sound;  but  you  will  do  me  a  favor  by  promising 
me  not  to  offer  your  horse  either  to  her  Majesty  or  to 
the  Prince  Imperial,  for  I  fear  some  accident  might  hap- 
pen." 

"  The  horse  is  high-spirited,  but  perfectly  safe,"  he 
replied;  "  nevertheless,  I  will  make  the  promise  you  de- 
sire, to  remove  your  apprehensions,  which  I  assure  you 
are  quite  groundless." 

Not  long  after,  the  intelligence  reached  me  that,  while 
being  driven  one  day  to  the  station,  this  horse  became  un- 
controllable, and,  dashing  down  the  road,  ran  against  a 
tree  and  upset  the  carriage,  throwing  Mr.  Foder  to  the 
ground  and  killing  him  on  the  spot. 

"  Oh  !  "I  then  said  to  myself,  "  it  was  perhaps  well  that 
I  obtained  that  promise.  How  easily  her  Majesty  or  the 
young  Prince  might  have  met  with  a  similar  fate !  ' ' 

Alas,  no  word  of  caution  could  break  the  spell  of  fate 
that  rested  upon  Camden  Place! 

Going  on  to  Hastings,  I  went  to  the  Empress,  who  had 
given  me  full  power  to  settle  matters  with  Mr.  Strode,  and 
had  consented  to  indorse  all  my  arrangements  without 
personally  inspecting  the  property,  and  I  informed  her  that 
I  had  come  to  an  agreement  with  the  landlord  of  Camden 
Place,  and  that  a  new  home  was  ready  for  her. 

Her  Majesty  received  this  announcement  with  the  great- 
est satisfaction,  and  told  me  that  she  would  like  to  leave 
for  her  new  residence  as  early  as  possible.  Having  spoken 
to  the  station-master  of  her  Majesty's  intentions,  the  next 
morning  a  message  from  the  railway  office  arrived  at  the 
Marine  Hotel,  announcing  that  orders  had  been  received 


402         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

from  London  to  place  a  special  train  at  the  disposal  of  the 
Empress,  and  those  who  should  accompany  her  to  Chisle- 
hurst. 

Her  Majesty,  as  soon  as  she  saw  me,  told  me  of  this 
communication,  and  said  she  could  not  accept  the  offer, 
and  asked  me  to  be  kind  enough  to  tell  the  officials  that 
she  preferred  to  make  use  of  the  ordinary  passenger-train 
in  the  afternoon.  I  stated  the  Empress'  choice  to  the  sta- 
tion-master, only  requesting  him,  as  a  small  favor,  that, 
after  all  the  passengers  had  taken  their  seats,  and  after 
the  doors  of  the  carriages  had  been  closed,  the  train 
should  remain  for  a  few  minutes  in  the  station  and  await 
the  arrival  of  the  Empress  and  the  persons  accompany- 
ing her. 

This  favor  was  kindly  granted,  and  enabled  her  Majesty 
at  the  moment  of  her  departure  to  take  her  seat  without 
being  annoyed  by  the  curiosity  of  the  passengers. 

When  our  party,  which  consisted  of  the  Empress,  the 
Prince  Imperial,  Mademoiselle  d'Albe,  Madame  Lebre- 
ton,  two  gentlemen  who  had  come  with  the  Prince  Im- 
perial from  the  Continent,  and  myself,  arrived  at  Chisle- 
hurst,  we  found  at  the  station,  in  consequence  of  an  order 
which  I  had  given  the  day  previous,  two  "  four-wheel- 
ers," as  the  large  hackney-coaches  are  called  in  England, 
in  readiness  for  us;  and,  by  the  tact  and  kindness  of 
the  station-master  of  the  place,  these  vehicles  were  placed 
at  the  side  opposite  the  one  from  which  the  passengers 
usually  alight;  so  that  we  were  able  to  enter  our  car- 
riages without  having  to  pass  through  the  waiting-room. 
A  few  moments  later  we  drove  up  to  Camden  Place, 
the  residence  which  the  Empress  took  possession  of  on 
Saturday,  September  24th,  1870,  and  where  so  many  mem- 
orable events  in  the  history  of  the  Imperial  family  after- 
ward happened. 

Soon  after  our  arrival,  an  excellent  dinner  was  served 
in  the  large  and  very  elegant  dining-room,  but  no  one 


MEETING    OF    MOTHER    AND    SON       403 

seemed  to  take  much  interest  in  it.  Nor  was  the  conversa- 
tion very  lively  or  engaging,  as  might  well  be  expected 
under  the  circumstances,  and  we  all  retired  to  our  respec- 
tive rooms  at  an  early  hour. 

The  Empress,  on  the  first  night,  occupied  the  large 
front  room  on  the  second  floor,  directly  over  the  drawing- 
room,  while  the  Prince  Imperial  slept  in  the  room  which 
later  became  the  Emperor's  cabinet;  and  I  had  the  honor 
of  occupying  the  chamber  which  afterward  was  used  as 
a  study  by  the  Prince. 

I  shall  always  retain  a  vivid  remembrance  of  that  first 
night  in  the  new  residence  of  her  Majesty. 

I  could  sleep  but  very  little.  The  chamber  was  musty 
and  chilly,  for  it  had  not  been  occupied  for  a  long  time, 
and  the  walls  were  full  of  moisture.  Although  the  room 
was  comfortably  furnished  and  its  appearance  cheerful,  I 
felt  depressed  and  gloomy,  and  realized  more  fully  than 
I  ever  had  before  the  significance  of  the  change  which  had 
come  over  the  fortunes  of  her  Majesty.  This  was  quite 
natural.  The  narrow  quarters,  the  discomforts,  whatever 
had  previously  happened  to  us,  had  been  to  me  only  the 
incidents  of  a  journey;  while  with  our  arrival  at  Chisle- 
hurst  a  new  life  began  for  the  Empress,  and  everything 
suggested  a  long  sojourn  here — in  fact,  that  the  home  of 
her  Majesty  was  to  be  no  more  in  the  Palace  of  the  Tuil- 
eries,  but  at  Camden  Place. 

The  thought  of  this  was  sufficient  to  prevent  sleep  from 
coming  to  the  eyes  of  a  friend  who  sympathized  deeply 
with  the  sovereign  on  whom  he  had  seen  Fortune  lavish 
her  most  splendid  gifts,  the  victim  now  of  unparalleled 
disaster,  but  with  a  soul  rising  superior  to  every  blow  of 
Fate,  brave  and  great-hearted  still. 

I  was  indeed  glad  when  the  morning  came  and  the 
first  rays  of  the  sun  were  entering  through  the  windows. 
The  splendid  light  of  the  rising  sun  fills  the  heart  with 
cheerful  thoughts,  and  a  new  day  is  like  the  opening  of 


404         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

a  new  chapter  in  our  fortunes.  So  when  I  looked  out,  and 
saw  the  glittering  shrubbery,  and  the  sheen  of  the  grassy 
lawn  on  which  the  dew  had  fallen  heavily  during  the 
night,  I  seemed  to  feel  that  this  quiet,  beautiful  Sunday 
morning  was  a  harbinger  of  brighter  and  happier  days 
for  the  mother  who  had  at  last  found  a  refuge  and  a  home 
for  herself  and  her  son  on  English  soil. 

The  Empress  awoke  refreshed  by  repose,  lightsome  of 
heart,  with  a  smiling  face,  and  full  of  gratitude  to  God 
for  having  shielded  her  from  danger,  and  full  of  hope  in 
the  future  of  her  son. 

Her  first  act  on  this  day  was  to  visit  the  church  across 
the  Common,  to  render  thanks  for  infinite  mercies  and  to 
invoke  the  Divine  blessing.  We  all  accompanied  her  and 
the  Prince  Imperial  to  the  place  where,  at  eleven  o'clock, 
High  Mass  was  to  be  celebrated.  The  small  community 
who  came  regularly  to  this  service  had  already  taken  their 
seats,  and  there  was  no  place  reserved  for  us,  for  no 
notice  of  the  arrival  of  the  Empress  had  reached  Monsig- 
nor  Goddard,  the  clergyman,  or  the  inhabitants  of  Chisle- 
hurst.  We  went  into  the  church  by  the  back  entrance, 
and  finding  no  seat  unoccupied,  but  seeing  a  few  vacant 
benches  without  backs,  took  our  places  on  these.  And  so 
the  Empress,  the  first  time  she  attended  religious  service 
at  Chislehurst,  sat  with  the  poor  of  the  parish.  None  of 
the  worshipers  had  any  suspicion  of  the  presence  among 
them  of  so  illustrious  a  personage. 

Times  change.  Visitors  at  the  little  chapel  at  Chisle- 
hurst— "  St.  Mary's  Church,"  as  it  is  called — have  since 
often  seen  her  Majesty  in  the  place  of  honor.  Many  per- 
sons of  high  birth  visited  it  in  after-years.  And  it  finally 
gained  a  gloomy  renown  as  the  temporary  sepulchre  of 
the  unfortunate  Emperor  and  his  beloved  son. 

Camden  Place  took  its  name  from  Camden,  the  anti- 
quary, who  lived  there  and  died  there.     It  was  for  a  time 


MEETING    OF    MOTHER    AND    SON       405 

the  property  of  Lord  Camden,  but  was  afterward  purchased 
by  Mr.  Thomas  Bonar,  a  wealthy  city  merchant,  and  was 
subsequently  sold  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Rowles,  of  Stratton 
Street,  London.  After  passing  through  the  hands  of  two 
or  three  other  persons,  it  became  the  property  of  Mr.  N. 
W.  J.  Strode,  of  London,  the  present  owner. 

Camden  Place  has  had  a  remarkable  history. 

I  was  rather  surprised  as  well  as  pleased  to  learn,  soon 
after  taking  a  lease  of  the  property,  that  while  the  Rowles 
family  were  living  here  Prince  Louis  Bonaparte  was  a 
frequent  visitor  to  the  house,  and  that  the  place  was  well 
known  to  him,  and  agreeably  associated  in  his  mind  with 
the  memory  of  several  charming  people  with  whom  he  was 
intimate  during  those  years  of  exile  in  England,  when, 
to  use  his  own  words,  he  ' '  was  so  happy  and  so  free. ' '  It 
has  even  been  said  the  Prince  so  fell  in  love  with  Miss 
Emily  Rowles  that  they  were  for  a  time  actually  engaged 
to  be  married.  This  much  is  certain :  the  lady  having 
afterward  married  the  Marquis  Campana,  who  became  in- 
volved in  serious  difficulties  with  the  Papal  Government, 
the  Prince,  who  had  now  become  Emperor,  gave  to  her 
husband  his  powerful  protection.  And  there  is  no  doubt 
that  Camden  Place  was  remembered  by  his  Majesty  then, 
and  to  the  end  of  his  life,  as  the  scene  of  a  romantic  attach- 
ment that  adds  interest  to  the  sad  story  of  his  own  residence 
at  Chislehurst. 

But  a  shadow  passed  over  the  house  not  long  after  its 
occupancy  by  the  Rowles  family.  Mrs.  Rowles  was  an 
Italian,  a  woman  of  wit,  great  beauty,  and  distinction,  who 
had  many  admirers,  and  many  misfortunes  also.  While 
living  in  Stratton  Street,  early  in  her  married  life,  a  bril- 
liant young  lawyer,  rising  rapidly  in  his  profession,  be- 
came so  infatuated  with  this  lady  that  he  thought  he  could 
not  live  without  her,  and  so  destroyed  himself;  and  while 
living  at  Camden  Place,  Mr.  Rowles  for  some  reason  grew 
so  despondent,  that  he,  it  would  seem,  came  to  the  conclu- 


406         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

sion  that  he  could  not  live  even  with  her,  and  thereupon 
he  killed  himself. 

A  little  later,  as  part  of  the  earlier  history  of  the 
house,  a  story  was  told  me  that  shocked  me  greatly  at  the 
time,  and  left  a  sinister  impression  upon  my  mind. 

On  the  morning  of  May  31st,  1813,  the  owner  of  Cam- 
den Place,  Mr.  Bonar,  was  found  dead  upon  the  floor  of 
his  bedroom,  and  his  wife  dying  in  her  bed  near  by.  Each 
had  apparently  been  beaten  to  death  with  some  heavy  in- 
strument. Their  skulls  were  crushed,  their  bodies  horribly 
bruised  and  mangled,  and  they  lay  weltering  in  their  blood. 
It  was  evident,  from  the  appearance  of  the  room,  the  fur- 
niture, and  the  clothing  of  Mr.  Bonar,  who  was  a  very 
strong  man,  that  the  murderer  had  accomplished  his  pur- 
pose only  after  a  terrible  struggle.  Not  a  servant  in  the 
house  had  heard  a  sound;  not  an  article  of  value  had 
been  removed;  the  Bonars  were  not  known  to  have  an 
enemy  in  the  world.  "Who  could  have  committed  the  mur- 
der, and  the  motive  that  prompted  it,  were  alike  mys- 
teries. One  or  two  arrests  were  made,  but  alibis  were  suc- 
cessfully proved.  Finally  suspicion  fell  on  a  footman 
employed  by  the  family,  who  bore  an  excellent  reputation. 
When  brought  before  the  Lord  Mayor,  the  man — Nicholson 
by  name — at  first  denied,  but  afterward  confessed  his  guilt. 
When  asked  why  he  had  killed  his  employers,  his  answer 
was  that  he  bore  them  no  ill-will ;  that  the  idea  of  robbing 
them  never  entered  his  mind ;  but  that  on  waking  up  about 
three  o'clock  in  the  morning,  he  was  seized  with  an  irre- 
sistible impulse  to  kill  his  master  and  mistress;  and  that, 
winding  a  sheet  about  him  as  a  disguise,  and  taking  a 
heavy  iron  poker  which  was  lying  by  the  grate,  he  went  up- 
stairs to  the  large  sleeping-room  occupied  by  the  Bonars, 
entered  it,  and  having  first  struck  Mrs.  Bonar  a  power- 
ful blow  on  the  head,  aimed  another  at  Mr.  Bonar,  who 
immediately  sprang  up  and  grappled  with  him.  After  a 
desperate  struggle  that  lasted  ten  or  fifteen  minutes,  Mr. 


1  MEETING    OF    MOTHER    AND    SON       407 

Bonar  fell  exhausted;  and  "  having  beaten  him  over  the 
head  with  the  poker,  I  left  him,"  he  said,  "  groaning  on 
the  floor." 

Nicholson  was  tried  at  the  Maidstone  Assizes  for  petty 
treason,  the  indictment  curiously  averring  that  he,  being 
a  servant,  had  traitorously  murdered  his  master  and  mis- 
tress. His  condemnation  and  execution  followed  as  a 
matter  of  course. 

When  the  rope  was  round  his  neck,  as  he  stood  on  the 
scaffold,  he  was  asked  if  he  had  anything  to  say.  Clasp- 
ing his  shackled  hands  together  as  closely  as  he  could,  his 
last  words  were,  "  As  God  is  in  heaven,  it  was  a  momen- 
tary thought,  as  I  have  declared  before — "  and  before  he 
could  speak  another  word,  the  drop  fell. 

A  curious  detail  remains  to  be  told.  A  son  of  Mr. 
Bonar,  upon  whom  at  first  suspicion  fell,  becoming  almost 
insane  in  consequence  of  this  shocking  murder,  and  of  the 
fact  that  any  one  could  for  a  moment  suppose  him  to  be 
a  parricide,  passed  most  of  his  time  in  the  cemetery  at  the 
grave  of  his  parents.  Here  he  caused  a  costly  tomb  to  be 
erected;  and  directing  in  his  will  that  his  own  body  should 
be  laid  by  the  side  of  his  parents,  had  cut  in  the  stone 
the  words,  "  It  is  I ;  be  not  afraid." 

As  often  happens,  the  facts  are  forgotten  and  the  fic- 
tion survives  in  legend.  So,  in  this  case,  the  imaginary 
crime,  the  fancied  guilt  of  the  unhappy  son  hovers  about 
this  enigmatical,  if  scriptural,  inscription. 

The  Prince  Imperial,  whose  curiosity  was  moved  by 
it  when  he  first  saw  it,  seemed  to  doubt  whether  it  was 
to  be  considered  as  the  confession  of  a  parricide,  who  had 
used  the  phrase  the  better  to  effect  his  purpose;  or  as  the 
utterance  of  a  compassionate  son,  who  feared  lest  the  re- 
opening of  the  tomb  to  receive  his  body  might  alarm  his 
beloved  in  their  last  repose.  And  he  often  put  this  ques- 
tion to  his  companions  as  a  conundrum. 

But  on   the  floor  of  the  principal   bedroom — the   one 


408         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

occupied  by  the  Empress — and  on  the  handsome  stairway 
of  Camden  Place,  dark  stains  and  the  prints  of  bloody 
feet  long  remained,  the  ghastly  witnesses  of  a  crime,  to 
haunt  the  mind  with  ghostly  figures  in  the  silent  watches 
of  the  night;  and  a  presage,  as  it  were,  of  events  to  come 
sixty  or  more  years  later,  when  two  other  dead  bodies 
were  to  lie  in  the  same  house — those  of  a  father  and  his 
son,  each  also  the  victim  of  a  tragedy. 

For  two  or  three  weeks,  affairs  relating  principally  to 
the  establishment  of  her  Majesty  in  her  new  home  kept 
me  at  Chislehurst,  or  in  its  immediate  neighborhood.  I 
saw  the  Empress  daily,  and  was  surprised  to  observe  how 
rapidly  she  recovered  her  health  and  spirits,  and  adjusted 
herself  to  her  new  surroundings;  and  this  in  spite  of  the 
fact  that  she  was  far  from  being  free  from  much  personal 
anxiety  and  very  grave  political  responsibilities.  But  one 
of  her  most  characteristic  traits  has  always  been  her  power 
to  put  aside  the  subjects  she  no  longer  cares  to  think  about, 
and  to  give  herself  up  freely  and  fully  to  the  impressions 
and  suggestions  of  the  present  moment.  The  conversations 
I  had  with  her  generally  related  to  non-political  affairs. 
But  however  commonplace  the  subject-matter  might  chance 
to  be,  I  observed  with  great  pleasure  that  it  was  now  almost 
sure  to  be  made  the  occasion  of  some  original  comment, 
or  of  some  bright  sally  that  brought  a  smile  to  the  lips 
of  those  who  heard  it,  and  to  which  the  laughter  in  her 
own  eyes  was  the  sympathetic  and  charming  response — 
in  a  word,  that  her  Majesty  was  herself  again.  And  yet 
there  was  a  seemingly  ineradicable  sadness  at  the  bottom 
of  her  heart  that  gave  a  color  to  her  thoughts,  and  that 
from  time  to  time  revealed  itself  when  least  expected. 

One  afternoon,  when  we  were  walking  in  the  Park,  she 
stopped  suddenly,  and  looking  across  the  lawn  for  a  mo- 
ment, exclaimed:  "  How  beautiful  is  the  sward,  so  green, 
so  smooth!     When  in  the  country  at  this  season  of  the 


MEETING    OF    MOTHER    AND    SON       409 

year,  one  loves  to  walk  with  one's  eyes  on  the  ground;  for 
the  sky  is  rarely  clear,  but  the  grass  is  always  fair  and 
delightful  to  look  at,  and  so  restful  to  the  eyes.  Indeed, 
the  country  would  seem  to  be  the  place  to  which  we  should 
take  our  sorrows.  Overwhelmed  as  I  am  with  anxiety, 
with  a  strange  and  terrible  sense  of  loneliness,  I  feel  like 
looking  down;  and  after  I  have  done  so  for  a  while,  it 
gives  me  such  relief !  How  different  it  was  with  me  when 
a  girl  in  Spain!  I  walked  then  with  head  erect,  and 
looked  at  the  cloudless  sky.  The  earth  beneath  was  less 
attractive  to  me  in  those  days  when  all  before  me  and 
above  me  was  so  bright.  But  I  was  young  then,  and  that, 
no  doubt,  is  why  I  felt  as  I  did."  Then  turning  quickly, 
as  if  coming  to  herself,  she  said:  "  How  wrong  it  is  for 
me  to  complain!  I,  who  have  had  so  much,  what  right 
have  I  to  complain  now?  I  should  think  of  those  who 
have  never  had  any  of  the  privileges  and  gifts  that 
I  have  enjoyed.  And  those  who  have  lost  much  should 
not  forget  that  they  have  had  much,  and  that  Fortune 
has  been  more  generous  to  them  than  to  those  who  have 
had  nothing. ' ' 

As  we  continued  our  walk  about  the  grounds,  the  con- 
versation drifted  from  one  subject  to  another,  until  mention 
was  made  of  some  of  the  ladies  who  were  conspicuous  at 
the  Court  between  1855-60.     "  I  can  never  forget,"  she 

said,  "  the  impression  made  upon  me  by  Madame  S 

when  I  first  saw  her;  she  was  a  most  amiable  and  lively 
woman,  and  extremely  beautiful."  "  Yes,"  I  remarked, 
' ''  and  still  is ;  but  she  cannot  bear  to  think  that  she  is  grow- 
ing old;  she  makes  herself  quite  unhappy  about  it."  The 
Empress'  reply  was:  "  When  those  who  have  been  called 
handsome  begin  to  lose  their  good  looks  from  the  natural 
effects  of  time,  they  do  wrong  to  make  themselves  unhappy 
about  it.  The  women  who  lose  their  remarkable  beauty 
as  they  grow  old,  are  better  off  than  their  less-favored  sis- 
ters, for  these  have  failed  to  find  in  life  what  the  others 


410         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

have  had — admiration.  When  old  age  comes  on,  handsome 
women  should  accept  it  and  be  thankful  for  the  past. ' ' 

But  how  few  are  willing  to  do  this!  I  have  known 
many  of  the  most  beautiful  women  in  Europe,  and  of  all 
the  celebrities  I  have  known  or  seen,  at  one  time  or  another, 
during  my  long  acquaintance  in  court  circles,  very  few 
indeed  have  ever  learned  how  to  grow  old  becomingly.  The 
contrary  has  generally  been  the  case.  They  have  been 
distressed  at  the  inevitable  changes  time  was  producing, 
and,  forgetting  that  a  graceful  old  age  is  still  charming, 
too  often  have  only  succeeded  in  making  themselves  ridicu- 
lous by  their  vain  attempts  to  repair  the  irreparable 
ravages  that  are  wrought  by  the  advance  of  the  remorseless 
years. 

I  do  not  remember  if  during  this  conversation  any  ref- 
erence was  made  to  health  as  among  the  things  for  which 
we  ought  to  be  thankful.  Yet  I  have  often  thought,  and  it 
recurs  to  me  as  I  am  writing  these  lines,  that  one  of  the 
Empress'  greatest  and  most  valuable  personal  possessions 
is  the  splendid  health  she  has  always  enjoyed.  It  is  this 
which  enabled  her  during  her  Regency,  and  when  she  fell 
from  power,  and  has  enabled  her  since,  in  the  hours  of  her 
greatest  misfortune,  to  support  physical  exertions,  and  ex- 
citements, and  suffering,  and  sorrow,  that  would  have 
crushed  to  the  earth  a  woman  of  less  vitality  and  organic 
vigor  and  resiliency.  From  her  girlhood  until  recent  years 
the  Empress  has  led  a  life  of  great  activity — seemingly 
quite  insensible  to  fatigue;  and,  even  now  (1897),  although 
in  her  eighth  decade,  she  finds  her  principal  pleasure  in 
journeys,  or  on  her  yacht ;  or,  when  at  home,  in  daily  drives 
and  walks.  It  is  only  a  few  months  ago,  on  my  last  visit  to 
Farnborough,  that  her  Majesty  invited  me  to  walk  with 
her.  The  time  passed  pleasantly  and  quickly  as  always 
on  these  occasions,  when  everything  about  us  was  agreeable 
to  the  eye  and  suggestive  of  that  light  comment  and  talk 
for  which  her  Majesty  still  possesses  so  rare  a  talent.    But 


MEETING    OF    MOTHER    AND    SON       411 

if,  on  returning,  I  found  the  distance  we  had  gone  without 
a  rest  something  more  than  a  surprise  to  me — if,  in  a  word, 
I  discovered  that  her  Majesty  was  the  better  walker  of  the 
two,  I  could  only  the  more  admire  the  firmness  of  her  step 
as  she  entered  the  vestibule  of  her  residence  after  this,  in 
my  opinion,  rather  too  long  a  walk.  And  when  she  passed 
before  the  fine  picture  of  Winterhalter,  that  hangs  upon  one 
of  the  walls  of  the  vestibule,  and  in  which  she  is  represented 
seated  among  the  ladies  of  her  Court,  the  contrast  between 
the  painted  portrait  and  the  living  subject,  dressed  in  the 
deepest  black,  as  she  has  always  dressed  since  her  widow- 
hood, struck  me  very  forcibly — the  freshness  and  brilliancy 
of  the  coloring  in  the  picture  serving  to  bring  into  full  re- 
lief the  striking  figure  of  this  great  lady  as  she  looks  to-day, 
and  to  which  the  advancing  years  have  added  the  dignity 
and  distinction  of  age. 


CHAPTER   XV 

I   VISIT   THE   EMPEROR — DIPLOMACY 

leave  England — Queen  Augusta — The  prison  and  the  prisoner — 
"The  courtesy  of  the  age" — My  visit  to  the  Emperor  at  Wil- 
helmshohe — I  visit  the  prison  camps  and  hospitals — My  return 
to  England — France  now  isolated — The  promise  of  the  Czar — 
The  Empress  endeavors  to  limit  the  consequences  of  the  French 
military  disasters — She  writes  to  the  Emperor  Alexander — She 
intercedes  on  behalf  of  the  Republican  Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs 
— Count  Bismarck  is  embarrassed — Diplomatic  notes. 

jN  October  8th,  as  soon  as  her  Majesty  was  fairly 
settled  in  her  new  residence,  I  left  England  for 
the  purpose  of  going  to  Wilhelmshohe  to  see 
the  Emperor.  I  wished  to  give  him  the  latest 
news  from  Chislehurst,  and  also  an  account  of  what 
I  had  done  to  effect  the  escape  of  her  Majesty  from 
Paris  and  from  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Revolutionary  Gov- 
ernment. Although  I,  as  an  American,  and  as  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  Sanitary  Committee  in  Paris  and  a  member 
of  the  International  Red  Cross  Society,  not  only  had  the 
rights  of  a  neutral,  but  was  protected  also  by  special  priv-  • 
ileges,  I  did  not  wish  to  expose  myself  to  any  delay  on  the 
way ;  and  being  afraid  that  my  presence  in  Germany  might 
create  suspicion,  I  first  went  to  Berlin,  hoping  to  facilitate, 
through  the  mediation  of  Queen  Augusta,  my  meeting 
with  the  French  Emperor.  To  my  great  dismay,  on  ar- 
riving in  the  Prussian  capital  I  learned  that  her  Majesty 
had  left  the  same  evening  for  Homburg,  and  that  I  would 
be  compelled  to  go  there  if  I  wished  to  see  her.  I  at  once 
returned  to  the  railway  station  and  took  the  express  leav- 
412 


I    VISIT    THE    EMPEROR  413 

ing  for  that  well-known  watering-place.  When  I  arrived 
there  and  announced  my  name  at  the  castle,  I  was  im- 
mediately admitted  into  the  Queen's  presence.  That  au- 
gust lady  received  me  with  the  words,  "  I  know  all  that 
has  happened,  and  what  you  have  done,  and  I  thank  you 
sincerely  for  it." 

I  was  astonished  to  find  that  her  Majesty  already  knew 
so  much  of  what  I  had  intended  to  communicate  to  her. 
And  when  I  gave  expression  to  my  surprise,  she  told  me 
that  she  had  heard  of  our  flight,  and  the  circumstances 
connected  with  it,  directly  from  the  Queen  of  England. 
She  also  said  that  as  soon  as  she  had  received  news  of 
the  arrival  of  the  Empress  at  Ryde  and  of  the  manner 
in  which  her  escape  had  been  accomplished,  she  had  felt 
sure  I  would  go  to  see  the  Emperor  the  moment  I  was 
at  liberty  to  do  so.  She  congratulated  me  on  having 
been  chosen  by  Providence  to  do  what  had  so  happily 
been  accomplished,  and  on  my  being  able  now  to  carry 
welcome  news  and  messages  from  the  Empress  to  the 
prisoner  of  Wilhelmshohe,  and  told  me  that  she  would 
do  all  in  her  power  to  enable  me  to  communicate  with 
him  without  loss  of  time.  After  I  had  taken  dinner  at 
the  castle,  I  entered  one  of  the  Court  carriages,  and,  on 
arriving  at  the  railway  station,  found  that  a  seat  had  al- 
ready been  taken  for  me  in  the  train.  At  the  same  time 
a  telegram  had  been  sent  by  her  Majesty's  secretary  to 
Wilhelmshohe,  announcing  the  hour  I  should  arrive,  and 
asking,  in  case  there  should  be  no  room  in  the  palace  it- 
self, that  apartments  might  be  prepared  for  me  in  a  neigh- 
boring hotel. 

I  left  ITomburg  greatly  moved  at  the  thought  that  I 
was  about  to  see  the  Emperor  Napoleon  III.  a  prisoner 
in  the  land  of  the  enemy  of  the  French. 

On  the  5th  of  September,  at  9.50  p.m.,  the  Emperor  had 

arrived  at  Cassel  in  a  special  train,  consisting  of  only  two 
28 


414         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

carriages.  An  eye-witness  who  was  present  at  the  railway 
station  at  the  time  mentioned,  says :  "  It  was  nearly  ten 
o'clock  when  the  passengers  alighted.  After  a  few  serv- 
ants and  subaltern  attendants  had  left  the  carriages,  a 
short,  stout  gentleman  descended.  He  wore  a  dark  over- 
coat and  the  uniform  of  a  French  general.  Slowly  walk- 
ing to  an  equipage  that  stood  in  waiting  for  him,  he  took 
a  seat  in  it  with  another  person  and  drove  off.  This 
gentleman  was  Louis  Napoleon,  two  days  before  Emperor 
of  the  French  and  so  recently  commander  of  a  great 
army,  who,  having  been  reduced  by  the  catastrophe  of 
Sedan  and  its  consequences  to  the  position  of  a  prisoner 
of  war,  had  arrived  at  his  place  of  reclusion." 

In  order  not  to  expose  the  dethroned  sovereign,  who 
was  suffering  severely  from  bodily  infirmities,  to  too  long 
a  journey,  the  generous  conqueror  had  chosen  for  his  cap- 
tive as  a  residence  one  of  the  most  splendid  palaces  in 
Germany. 

Only  a  few  miles  from  Cassel,  built  by  the  Electors 
of  Westphalia,  Wilhelmshohe  is  remarkable  on  account  of 
the  extent  and  beauty  of  its  gardens,  which  are  so  em- 
bellished (not  always  in  good  taste,  but  at  enormous 
expense)  with  cascades  and  fountains,  colossal  statues  and 
flights  of  steps,  that  the  place  has  been  called  the  Versailles 
of  Germany.  The  palace  itself  covers  a  large  area,  is 
richly  decorated,  and  is  filled  with  valuable  works  of  art — 
paintings,  ancient  tapestries,  and  statues  in  bronze  and 
marble.  In  1870  it  was  completely  furnished,  just  as  it 
had  been  left  by  the  Elector  of  Hanover  when  in  1866 
he  became  the  prisoner  of  the  King  of  Prussia.  And  here 
one  of  the  uncles  of  Napoleon  III.,  King  Jerome  of  West- 
phalia, had  resided.  But,  in  the  overbearing  mood  of  a 
conqueror,  Jerome  had  shocked  the  good  people  of  Cassel 
and  its  neighborhood  by  changing  the  name  of  the  place 
and  calling  it  Napoleonshohe ;  and,  as  it  were,  by  a  bitter 
irony  of  Fate,  it  came  to  pass  that  in  the  palace  thus 


I    VISIT    THE    EMPEROR  415 

named  a  Napoleon  did  live,  not  as  a  reigning  sovereign, 
but  as  a  prisoner  of  war. 

The  Imperial  prisoner,  however,  was  treated  by  the 
Prussian  King  with  the  greatest  consideration,  and  in  a 
manner  that  was  intended  not  to  remind  him  of  his  un- 
fortunate position.  When  he  arrived  at  Wilhelmshohe  he 
found  everything  in  readiness  to  make  his  sojourn  at  the 
palace  most  comfortable.  There  was  a  warm  glow  inside 
the  splendid  halls;  generals,  and  gentlemen  of  the  Royal 
household,  were  standing  at  the  entrance  to  do  the  honors 
of  the  occasion;  attendants  wTere  bustling  about  the  pal- 
ace and  in  the  corridors,  and  everything  was  in  gala  to 
receive  the  distinguished  guest. 

'  Times  have  changed  since  Mary  was  locked  up  by 
Elizabeth,  or,  to  quote  a  more  analogous  case,  since  the 
youthful  King  of  France  was  captured  by  the  German 
Emperor,  Charles  V.,  on  the  battle-field  of  Pavia,"  says 
the  correspondent  of  a  wTell-known  English  newspaper  when 
describing  the  treatment  which  Napoleon  III.  received  in 
Prussia ;  and  he  adds,  ' '  Such  is  the  aspect  Royal  imprison- 
ment assumes  in  the  courtesy  of  the  present  age." 

It  is  strange,  however,  that  before  the  mind  of  this 
writer,  who  seems  to  have  been  so  familiar  with  analogous 
cases,  the  picture  did  not  arise  of  the  prison  on  a  rocky 
island  in  the  Atlantic,  where  the  greatest  military  genius 
of  our  time  perished  in  consequence  of  the  brutal  treat- 
ment of  his  jailers.  When  Napoleon  III.  arrived  in  Wil- 
helmshohe, only  forty-three  years  had  elapsed  since  his 
famous  uncle  had  been  the  victim  of  the  cruelty  of  Sir 
Hudson  Lowe;  and  if  the  late  Emperor  of  the  French 
received  a  kinder  treatment,  it  was  on  account  of  the  fact 
that  he  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  a  monarch  who  had 
sympathy  with  his  enemy  in  his  misfortune,  but  not  be- 
cause a  new  age  of  courtesy  had  arisen.  Times  change, 
but  human  character  remains  the  same ;  and  just  as  it 
would  be  ridiculous  to  maintain  that  in  former  times  the 


416         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

kind  treatment  of  an  enemy  was  unknown,  just  so  un- 
reasonable is  it  to  pretend  that  in  our  so-called  age  of 
enlightenment  and  refinement,  brutality  and  arrogance 
towards  the  vanquished  have  become  impossible. 

The  treatment  which  was  benevolently  intended  to  make 
the  fallen  sovereign  forget  his  hard  fate  could,  however, 
only  alleviate,  but  not  remove,  the  pain  that  pierced  his 
heart.  The  blow  had  been  too  terrible,  and  its  immedi- 
ate effect  upon  the  health  of  the  monarch,  who  had  been 
suffering  so  much  for  some  months  previous  from  a  pain- 
ful malady,  was  now  apparent  even  to  the  casual  observer. 

Herr  Paul  Lindau,  one  of  the  best-known  writers  of 
modern  Germany,  has  described  graphically  the  impression 
made  upon  him  when  he  saw  the  Emperor  on  the  day  of 
his  arrival  at  Wilhelmshohe : 

'  I  have  seen  the  Emperor,"  he  writes,  "  hundreds  of 
times  in  Paris.  Every  line  of  his  features  is  just  as 
familiar  to  me  as  are  those  of  my  nearest  friend;  yet  I 
declare  with  the  greatest  sincerity  that  when  he  arrived 
here  I  did  not  recognize  him.  I  am  not  sentimental,  and 
my  nerves  are  of  normal  strength ;  but  the  shock  that  the 
contrast  presented  sent  a  shiver  to  my  heart.  Everybody 
is  familiar  with  the  way  in  which  Napoleon's  hair  used 
to  be  arranged — the  crisp  curl  so  carefully  trained,  and 
the  historical  mustache  with  its  waxed  ends  that  gave  to 
his  countenance  its  distinguished  expression.  All  that 
trim  soldierly  air  was  gone.  A  few  straggling  locks  of 
hair  were  scattered  in  confusion  over  his  forehead,  and 
his  untended  mustache  drooped  heavily  over  his  closed 
lips,  betokening  the  despair  that  must  have  reigned  in  his 
soul.  Napoleon  moved  no  muscle;  not  a  line  in  his  face 
was  stirred  when  he  responded  to  the  military  salute. 
As  he  turned  from  right  to  left,  no  gleam  of  expression 
passed  across  his  features.  His  eyes  had  lost  every  ves- 
tige of  meaning,  and  he  gazed  on  all  about  him,  yet 
evidently  seeing  nothing. 


I    VISIT    THE    EMPEROR  417 

"  Such  a  full  personification  of  total  apathy  I  have 
never  seen.  It  was  not  a  living,  human  face  I  beheld;  it 
was  a  lifeless,  vacant  mask.  I  could  not  withdraw  my 
gaze  from  him ;  I  could  not  admit  the  possibility  of  the  fact ; 
I  could  not  realize  that  the  wreck  before  me  was  the  man 
whose  voice  was  but  a  few  weeks  since  so  potent  through- 
out the  world;  that  this  was  the  wise  and  mighty  Em- 
peror. ' ' 

The  foregoing  description  of  the  appearance  of  the 
French  sovereign  on  the  evening  of  his  arrival  at  Cassel, 
written  by  a  keen  observer,  gives  an  idea  not  only  of  the 
physical  condition  of  the  Emperor,  but  of  his  state  of 
mind  during  those  first  days  after  the  catastrophe  of 
Sedan. 

The  sun  was  shining  brightly  when,  the  next  morning, 
I  came  to  the  gate  of  the  Park  of  Wilhelmshohe,  and,  fol- 
lowing the  route  that  was  marked  by  inscriptions  pointing 
the  way  to  the  chateau,  passed  through  a  maze  of  trees  and 
by  clumps  of  shrubbery  and  patches  of  flowers  blighted  by 
the  frost,  and  by  the  side  of  broad  lawns  strown  with  leaves 
that  were  now  falling  fast,  until  I  came  in  sight  of  the 
famous  palace  that  stood  out  suddenly  before  me,  a  daz- 
zling, white  mass,  under  the  hill  which  was  crowned  by  the 
statue  of  the  Farnese  Hercules. 

I  stopped  for  a  few  moments  to  admire  the  building, 
the  statues,  and  the  fountains,  and  the  picturesque  group- 
ing of  landscape  effects;  and  then,  ascending  a  flight  of 
steps  and  crossing  the  broad  terrace  in  front  of  the  palace, 
I  went  to  the  entrance  on  the  right,  where  I  was  received 
by  an  attendant,  who  accompanied  me  to  the  room  that 
had  been  prepared  for  me. 

The  Emperor  occupied  a  suite  in  the  left  wing  of 
the  palace,  on  the  second  floor.  It  was  reached  by  a 
monumental  staircase,  and  contained  several  rooms.  The 
bedroom  was  at  the  extreme  end  of  the  suite,   and  was 


418         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

very  large,  the  bed  itself  standing  in  a  sort  of  alcove.  It 
was  in  this  room  that,  soon  after  my  arrival  at  Wilhelms- 
hohe,  I  was  received  by  the  Emperor.  A  table  stood  in 
the  middle  of  the  room.  His  Majesty  sat  in  a  chair  be- 
tween the  bed  and  the  table;  he  was  smoking  a  cigarette, 
the  remains  of  several  lying  upon  a  dish  on  the  table. 
He  looked  pale  and  careworn.  Never,  while  I  live,  shall 
I  forget  this  meeting.  Scarcely  two  months  had  elapsed 
since  I  had  seen  him  going  to  place  himself  at  the  head 
of  his  troops,  surrounded  by  a  brilliant  staff  who  dreamed 
of  victory  and  glory.  For  some  moments  we  remained  si- 
lent; the  situation  was  painful  to  me.  Nor  could  his 
Majesty  conceal  his  emotion.  He  then  thanked  me  warmly 
for  having  come  to  him,  and  asked  me  what  news  I  had 
brought  from  the  Empress  and  the  Prince  Imperial.  As 
I  was  almost  the  first  person  he  had  seen  coming  directly 
from  the  Empress  since  her  arrival  in  England,  he  had 
a  great  many  questions  to  ask ;  and,  in  particular,  he  wished 
me  to  narrate  to  him  the  details  of  the  departure  of  the 
Empress  from  Paris,  as  they  had  never  been  reported  to 
him.  I  described  what  had  happened  to  the  Empress 
from  the  time  she  left  the  Tuileries  until  her  arrival  in 
England,  and  what  I  myself  had  done  for  her  up  to  the 
moment  of  her  settling  down  in  Chislehurst.  The  Emperor 
was  so  affected  that  frequently,  during  my  rehearsal  of  the 
story,  he  was  moved  to  tears.  On  my  mentioning  to  him 
that  her  Majesty  spent  her  last  night  in  Paris  beneath 
my  roof,  he  interrupted  me  by  inquiring  what  motive  she 
had  in  deciding  not  to  leave  Paris  on  the  night  of  the 
4th.  And  when  I  told  him  my  reasons  for  persuading  her 
to  remain  overnight  in  my  house,  and  which  I  have  given 
in  a  previous  chapter,  he  thanked  me  with  much  feeling, 
saying:  "  You  have  not  only  protected  the  Empress  from 
harm ;  you  also  have  prevented  her  enemies  from  saying 
that  the  Regent  rashly  deserted  her  capital." 

When  I  had  concluded  my  narration  concerning  the 


I    VISIT    THE    EMPEROR  419 

flight  of  the  Empress,  I  spoke  of  the  kind  reception  given 
to  me  by  Queen  Augusta,  and  the  sentiments  which  she 
had  expressed  when  speaking  of  the  assistance  I  had  been 
able  to  render  the  Empress.  To  this  the  Emperor  re- 
plied :  "I  am  persuaded  that  this  noble  woman  really 
meant  what  she  said,  for  she  has  done  everything  to  make 
me  comfortable  here,  and  I  am  treated  with  the  most 
thoughtful  and  delicate  kindness.  I  have  been  placed 
under  no  personal  restraint  whatsoever,  but  have  been 
given  the  most  complete  liberty  to  go  wherever  I  like,  on 
foot  or  in  a  carriage,  not  only  in  the  park  but  beyond  its 
limits — a  privilege  of  which  I  frequently  avail  myself. 
Thinking  that  it  would  be  agreeable  to  me  to  have  one 
of  my  countrymen  as  the  head  of  my  household,  she  has 
sent  me  her  own  steward,  who  is  a  Frenchman,  and  who, 
during  the  many  years  that  he  has  been  in  her  service, 
has  gained  her  highest  esteem.  Besides,  she  has  placed 
carriages  and  horses  from  her  own  stables  at  my  disposal ; 
and,  in  fact,  I  am  treated  by  her  Majesty  rather  like  a 
guest  than  like  a  prisoner. ' ' 

After  we  had  conversed  for  more  than  an  hour,  the 
Emperor  invited  me  to  take  a  walk  with  him  in  the  beauti- 
ful grounds  surrounding  the  Palace  of  Wilhelmshbhe.  For 
some  time  we  continued  our  walk  in  the  garden,  while  the 
Emperor  related  to  me  many  reminiscences  of  his  life. 
He  avoided  any  reference  to  the  political  situation,  which 
at  the  time  was  most  critical  in  its  import  to  the  Imperial 
dynasty;  nor  did  he  allude  to  the  events  that  had  led  up 
to  it.  The  conversation  was  confined  almost  entirely  to 
personal  incidents  and  subjects.  He  spoke  of  the  differ- 
ence between  the  treatment  he  was  now  receiving  and  that 
which  he  was  subjected  to  when  at  Ham,"  where  I  learned," 
he  said,  "  to  be  a  prisoner,  and  a  good  many  things  be- 
sides. You  know  I  have  always  called  Ham  my  University. 
And,  by  the  way,  how  are  you  getting  on  with  your  Inter- 
oceanic  canal?     It  was  while  I  was  a  prisoner,  in  1844, 


420         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

that  I  first  became  interested  in  the  project  of  uniting  the 
Atlantic  and  Pacific  oceans  by  means  of  a  canal.  You 
will  remember,  perhaps,  that  I  came  to  the  conclusion  that 
the  Nicaragua  route  was  the  best."  A  few  words  will  ex- 
plain how  it  happened  that  the  Emperor  spoke  to  me  on 
this  subject. 

I  was  one  of  the  members  of  a  society  formed  in  Paris, 
in  the  spring  of  1870,  the  object  of  which  was  to  exam- 
ine the  feasibility  of  constructing  a  ship-canal  across 
the  Isthmus  of  Darien  or  Panama.  I  had  informed  his 
Majesty  of  our  project,  and  had  told  him,  only  two  or 
three  weeks  before  the  declaration  of  war,  that  we  had 
sent  out  an  engineer  to  survey  the  routes  proposed  and 
report  to  us  on  their  respective  merits.  The  Emperor 
had  remembered  our  conversation  on  this  subject.  But 
although  the  problem  of  constructing  a  ship-canal  across 
the  American  isthmus  had  once  attracted  his  attention, 
and  he  had  found  its  study  singularly  fascinating,  I  can- 
not believe  that  when  he  asked  me  what  we  had  accom- 
plished, he  was  prompted  to  do  so  by  any  feeling  of  either 
personal  interest  in  the  project  or  curiosity  to  know  what 
had  really  been  done.  I  am  sure  it  was  rather  from  an 
impulse  of  sympathy  for  a  friend  whose  efforts  he  would 
have  been  pleased  to  hear  had  been  successful. 

But  while  engaged  in  this  discursive  talk,  unwittingly 
we  had  come  out  upon  the  open  country  road  and  saw 
ourselves  suddenly  surrounded  by  a  group  of  children, 
who  at  first  stared  at  us  curiously,  and  then  approached 
to  solicit  money.  The  Emperor,  kind  and  generous  as 
ever — he  who  had  spent  so  freely  the  income  granted  to 
him  by  his  people  in  works  of  charity  and  in  largesses  of 
every  sort — could  not  resist  the  appealing  looks  of  the 
blue  eyes  of  the  little  boys  and  girls  who  stood  around 
us.  Drawing  from  his  pocket  some  rather  large  pieces  of 
silver,  he  handed  these  to  them  with  a  pleased  expression 
on  his  face;  and  then,  turning  towards  me  and  slightly 


I    VISIT    THE    EMPEROR  421 

blushing,  he  said,  as  if  to  excuse  himself :  ' '  You  will  think 
me,  perhaps,  a  spendthrift.  It  is  true,  I  should  not  for- 
get that  I  am  no  longer  an  Emperor. ' ' 

Soon  after  we  returned  from  this  walk  breakfast  was 
served  in  the  great  dining-room  of  the  palace.  And  here 
I  met  some  of  the  most  distinguished  of  those  officers  and 
gentlemen  who  had  followed  the  Emperor  into  captivity — 
the  Princes  de  la  Moskowa  and  Murat,  and  Generals  Castel- 
nau,  Reille,  and  Pajol,  Captain  Lauriston,  and  others, 
among  whom  were  M.  Franceschini  Pietri,  and  the  Em- 
peror's lifelong  inseparable  friend,  Dr.  Conneau.  These 
gentlemen  I  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  again  at  dinner; 
after  which  the  hours  were  spent  in  pleasant  conversation, 
every  one  speaking  of  that  which  he  had  most  at  heart.  Of 
course,  the  then  existing  condition  of  France  was  the  chief 
topic;  and  the  hope  which  was  expressed  by  most  of  the 
military  men  was  that  of  soon  seeing  again  their  own  coun- 
try. The  Emperor  tried  to  hide  his  emotion  when  refer- 
ence was  made  to  going  home,  but  looking  into  his  face  I 
could  see  plainly  what  sorrow  possessed  his  soul.  Others 
might  hope,  but  he  did  not  dare  to  indulge  the  hope  of 
seeing  France  again.  All  he  could  expect  was  that  the 
Prussian  Government  would  soon  grant  him  the  favor  of 
rejoining  his  wife  and  son  in  England.  During  the  eve- 
ning he  spoke  much,  and  in  the  kindest  manner,  of  the  coun- 
try which  had  given  its  hospitality  to  the  Empress  in  her 
distress,  and  he  remembered  gratefully  the  days  he  him- 
self had  spent  as  an  exiled  Prince  under  the  protecting 
flag  of  Great  Britain. 

The  day  after  my  arrival  at  Wilhelmshohe  I  left  that 
place  and  went  to  see  some  of  the  camps  in  which  the 
French  were  held  as  prisoners  of  war;  and  afterward  I 
went  to  Saarbruck,  where  hostilities  began,  and  visited 
the  battle-fields  and  hospitals  in  the  vicinity  of  Metz.  My 
object  was  to  see  if  it  was  possible  for  me  in  any  way 


422         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

to  alleviate  the  hardships  and  sufferings  of  the  French 
soldiers,  who,  wounded  or  sick,  were  at  the  same  time  pris- 
oners of  war. 

On  my  way  back  to  England  I  stopped  a  short  time 
in  Brussels.  Here  I  was  received  by  the  King  and  Queen 
of  Belgium,  who  were  anxious  to  hear  about  the  flight  of 
the  Empress;  and  the  King  told  me  of  the  arrangements 
that  had  been  made  to  protect  the  Prince  Imperial  and 
provide  for  his  wants  when  he  passed  through  Belgium 
en  route  to  England. 

When  I  left  the  palace  I  went  to  the  Hotel  de  Bellevue, 
and  found  there  her  Highness,  Princess  Mathilde,  the 
daughter  of  the  ex-King  of  Westphalia,  and  cousin  of 
Napoleon  III.  She  talked  freely  to  me  about  the  events 
which  had  taken  place  in  France.  She  told  me  that  she 
was  very  anxious  to  see  the  Empress  Eugenie,  and  that 
she  should  go  for  that  purpose  to  England  as  soon  as  the 
weather  became  more  settled — being  apparently  somewhat 
afraid  of  sea-sickness.  I  met  in  the  hotel  also  the  Duke 
de  Bassano,  and  M.  Benedetti,  who,  as  Ambassador  to 
Prussia,  played  such  an  important  part  just  before  the 
beginning  of  the  Franco-German  War. 

In  Brussels  I  found  a  number  of  important  letters  and 
despatches,  that  had  been  awaiting  my  arrival  there  for 
a  week  or  more.  Accordingly,  on  October  28th,  after  an 
absence  of  exactly  twenty  days,  I  returned  to  England 
to  relate  to  her  Majesty  my  interview  with  the  Emperor, 
to  report  to  her  what  I  had  heard  and  seen  that  might 
interest  her,  and  to  make  arrangements  to  carry  out  the 
work  which  my  inspection  of  the  French  hospitals  and 
prison  camps  had  suggested  to  me,  and  which  I  had  re- 
solved should  occupy  my  time  during  the  coming 
months. 

During  my  absence,  or  rather  from  the  moment  of  her 
arrival  in  England,  her  Majesty,  unmindful  of  herself, 
had  used  all  the  influence  she  still  possessed  to  help  and 


DIPLOMACY  423 

protect  her  unfortunate  country,  notwithstanding  the  acts 
and  the  ingratitude  of  her  people. 

The  Revolution  which  overthrew  the  Empire,  at  the 
same  time  completely  isolated  France,  and  destroyed  all 
hope  of  an  alliance  with  other  Powers.  The  ties  which 
bound  the  Court  of  Florence  to  that  of  the  Tuileries  were 
now  broken.  Princess  Clotilde  had  left  the  country,  as  the 
Empress  had  done ;  and  Prince  Napoleon  was  an  exile.  The 
King  of  Italy  was  wounded  by  the  catastrophe  which  over- 
whelmed his  ally,  his  relative,  and  his  friend.  The  Court 
of  Vienna,  which  in  1867  began  to  enter  into  very  friendly 
relations  with  the  French  Court  in  order  to  secure  the 
assistance  of  Napoleon  III.  in  view  of  certain  complica- 
tions that  were  threatening,  no  longer  saw  any  ground  for 
an  alliance  with  France,  because  its  raison  d'etre  had  en- 
tirely depended  upon  the  private  politics  of  the  Emperor 
and  his  personal  influence.  It  was  now  too  late  to  act 
with  France  in  order  to  check  the  ambitious  projects  of 
the  Chancellor  of  the  North-German  Confederation;  and 
what,  on  the  other  hand,  the  attitude  of  the  French  Re- 
public would  be  with  respect  to  various  political  questions 
that  might  interest  Austria,  could  not  be  foreseen. 

The  Russian  Government,  it  is  true,  during  the  reign 
of  Napoleon  III.  had  not  always  been  upon  the  most 
friendly  terms  with  France ;  but  the  German  victories  were 
so  overwhelming  as  to  lead  to  a  revulsion  of  feeling  in 
Russia,  and  the  Emperor  Alexander  told  General  Fleury, 
the  French  Ambassador,  that  at  the  right  moment  he  would 
speak  loudly  in  favor  of  France.  This  assurance  which 
the  Czar  gave  to  the  Imperial  Government  was  a  promise 
that  could  be  relied  upon,  for  the  Czar  had  engaged  his 
personal  word ;  but  he  had  engaged  it  to  the  Emperor,  and 
not  to  a  Ministry  which  was  regarded  as  illegitimate  by 
the  Courts  of  Europe.  Prince  Gorteehakoff  had  proposed 
to  offer  his  mediation  in  order  to  obtain  a  revision  of  the 
Treaty  of  Paris;    but  after  the  Revolution  had  isolated 


424         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

France  entirely,  his  mediation  had  become  impossible. 
The  Court  and  the  high  personages  of  Russia  could  look 
with  no  favor  upon  a  country  in  which  the  Pole  Berezowsky, 
who  had  attempted  to  assassinate  the  Czar,  and  the  lawyer 
M.  Floquet,  who  had  insulted  him,  were  persons  of  dis- 
tinction. 

M.  Jules  Favre,  the  Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs  in  the 
new  Government,  knew  nothing  of  this  promise,  or  of  the 
relations  of  the  Imperial  Cabinet  with  the  Russian  Govern- 
ment, for  he  says:  "  A  rapid  examination  was  sufficient 
to  convince  me  not  only  that  we  had  no  alliance — this  I 
already  knew — but  that  our  diplomacy  had  never  made 
a  serious  effort  to  obtain  one. ' '  * 

The  Prince  de  la  Tour  d'Auvergne  had,  of  course,  not 
believed  himself  to  be  justified  in  communicating  the 
Cabinet  secrets  of  the  Empire  to  his  Republican  successor; 
but  if  M.  Jules  Favre  had  not  been  satisfied  with  ' '  a  rapid 
examination, "  as  he  calls  it,  he  might  have  easily  discovered 
the  actual  state  of  things.  This  knowledge,  however,  would 
not  have  been  of  any  use  to  him,  since,  for  the  reasons 
above  given,  the  foreign  Cabinets  had  ceased  to  take  an 
interest  in  the  fortunes  of  France  from  the  moment  of  the 
proclamation  of  the  Republic,  f 

The  very  last  despatch  which  was  received  at  the 
Tuileries  (on  September  4th)  came  from  General  Fleury  in 
reply  to  a  communication  from  the  Regent  sent  after  the 

*  "  Le  Gouvernement  de  la  Defense  Nationale,"  par  M.  Jules  Favre, 
p.l. 

t  The  understanding  between  France,  Austria,  and  Italy  was  such, 
immediately  preceding  the  declaration  of  war,  in  1870,  that  the  Emperor 
told  General  Lebrun  he  considered  the  alliance  with  Italy  as  certain, 
and  that  with  Austria  as  morally,  if  not  materially,  assured.  In  fact, 
as  late  as  the  middle  of  June,  1870,  the  Archduke  Albert  submitted  to 
the  Emperor  a  minutely  detailed  plan  of  military  operations,  to  be 
carried  out  conjointly  by  France,  Austria,  and  Italy  on  German  terri- 
tory— the  case  arising.  Cf.  General  Lebrun's  "  Souvenirs  Militaires," 
Paris,  E.  Dentu,  1895. 


DIPLOMACY  425 

capitulation  of  Sedan,  inquiring  to  what  extent  the  Czar 
was  disposed  to  intervene.  In  this  despatch  General 
Fleury  said  the  Czar  was  disposed  to  advise  Prussia  to 
end  the  war. 

Inasmuch  as  the  mind  of  the  Empress  had  been 
occupied  for  many  days  with  but  one  thought — so  far  as 
France  was  concerned — namely,  how  to  limit  the  conse- 
quences of  the  military  disasters,  from  the  very  moment 
she  arrived  in  England  she  set  to  work  to  follow  up  the 
negotiations  she  had  opened  with  the  Russian  Court. 

It  would  not  have  been  astonishing  had  the  Imperial 
family  wished  to  see  France  punished  for  the  behavior  of 
the  people  toward  their  sovereign;  but  Napoleon  III.  and 
his  noble  consort  loved  their  country  more  than  their 
throne,  and  were  grieved,  rather  than  incited  to  feelings 
of  animosity,  by  the  acts  which  the  people  had  committed. 

I  was  with  her  Majesty  every  day  at  this  time,  and 
her  political  opinions  and  purposes  were  freely  declared 
and  discussed,  and  were  no  secret  to  any  one  in  her  im- 
mediate entourage. 

As  it  happened,  General  Fleury,  notwithstanding  the 
events  in  Paris,  had  remained  in  St.  Petersburg,  and  was 
so  well  liked  at  the  Russian  Court  that  his  influence  sur- 
vived his  official  position  and  his  government.  Accord- 
ingly, on  her  arrival  at  Hastings,  among  the  first  des- 
patches sent  by  the  Empress  was  one  to  General  Fleury, 
urging  him  not  to  cease  his  efforts  to  obtain  an  honorable 
peace.  And  when  her  Majesty  was  informed  of  the  sus- 
picion and  hostility  with  which  the  Republic  was  regarded 
at  the  European  courts,  and  was  told  that  the  personal 
intervention  of  the  Czar  was  now  scarcely  to  be  expected, 
she  wrote  to  the  Emperor  Alexander  a  letter,  in  which  she 
asked  him  not  to  change  his  policy  in  regard  to  France 
on  account  of  the  Revolution. 

"  If  I  have  correctly  understood  the  reports  of  our 
ambassador,"    the    Empress   wrote,    on    September    13th, 


426         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

from  Hastings,  '  your  Majesty  has,  a  priori,  decided 
against  the  dismemberment  of  France.  Fate  has  been 
hard  to  us.  The  Emperor  is  a  prisoner,  and  calumniated. 
Another  Government  has  taken  up  the  task  which  we  had 
thought  it  our  duty  to  fulfil.  I  supplicate  your  Majesty 
to  use  your  influence  in  order  to  make  it  possible  that  an 
honorable  and  durable  peace  may  be  concluded  when  the 
moment  shall  arrive.  May  France,  whatever  its  govern- 
ment, always  be  able  to  count  upon  the  same  sentiments 
which  your  Majesty  has  had  for  our  own  during  these  hard 
trials." 

While  the  Empress  thus,  with  noble  self-denial,  was 
willing  to  assist  the  Revolutionary  party,  if  only  the  coun- 
try could  be  spared,  the  new  Government  acted  in  just 
the  opposite  manner.  Instead  of  avoiding  all  that  could 
possibly  compromise  the  future  of  France,  thinking  only 
of  how  their  acts  could  be  extenuated,  they  loudly  calum- 
niated the  Empire  and  exalted  themselves.  It  would  be 
difficult  to  imagine  anything  more  injudicious  and  undip- 
lomatic than  the  declamatory  circular  issued  on  September 
6th  by  M.  Jules  Favre,  the  Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs, 
and  addressed  by  him  to  the  diplomatic  representatives 
of  France  in  foreign  countries.  It  was  a  paeon  of  victory 
over  "  Napoleon  III.  and  his  dynasty,"  a  defiance  to  Ger- 
many, and  a  menace  to  the  established  institutions  of 
Europe.  "  Voila,  monsieur,  ce  que  I'Europe  doit  savoir!  " 
cried  out  Favre  at  the  close  of  this  precious  document.  He 
wished  it  to  be  understood  that  the  authority  was  in  new 
hands. 

When  the  Emperor  Alexander  received  from  her  Maj- 
esty the  letter  here  referred  to,  he  expressed  to  her  his 
regret  that  circumstances  had  changed  the  situation  of 
things.  This  answer  of  the  Russian  Emperor  showed  that 
he  was  not  willing  to  assist  the  Republic.  Her  Majesty, 
however,  instead  of  resting  satisfied  with  what  she  had 
done,  or  even  becoming  discouraged  by  the  reply  of  the 


DIPLOMACY  427 

Czar,  decided  to  use  her  influence  once  more  in  favor  of 
her  country  through  General  Fleury.  Having  heard  that 
M.  Jules  Favre  had  appealed  to  the  foreign  Powers  in 
order  to  obtain  through  their  assistance  an  interview  with 
Count  Bismarck,  she  wrote  to  General  Fleury  requesting 
him  to  intercede  before  the  Czar  in  behalf  of  the  Republi- 
can Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs.  The  Ambassador,  in 
obedience  to  her  Majesty,  immediately  complied  with  her 
wishes,  and  did  everything  in  his  power  to  counteract  the 
unfavorable  impression  which  the  Republican  Government 
had  produced  by  its  first  public  acts.  Since  every  one 
knew  that  M.  Fleury  was  one  of  the  earliest  and  most  de- 
voted friends  of  the  Emperor,  and  was  strongly  attached  to 
the  Imperial  family,  his  efforts  in  behalf  of  Jules  Favre 
and  his  colleagues  could  not  be  misinterpreted,  and  there- 
fore had  the  desired  effect.  The  Government  of  St.  Peters- 
burg consequently  advised  the  Prussian  Government  to 
enter  into  negotiations  with  the  Republican  representative, 
and  the  famous  interview  between  Bismarck  and  Jules 
Favre  at  Ferrieres  took  place. 

Her  Majesty's  appeals  in  behalf  of  France  were,  how- 
ever, not  addressed  to  the  Czar  of  Russia  alone.  She  wrote 
also  to  the  Emperor  of  Austria  and  to  the  Queen  of  Eng- 
land, begging  them  to  intervene ;  but  in  vain.  Indeed, 
her  unremitting  efforts  to  obtain  for  France  an  honorable 
peace  were  not  only  known  at  the  time  in  all  the  chancel- 
leries of  Europe,  but  were  of  such  signal  service  that  the 
Government  of  the  National  Defense  were  compelled  to  rec- 
ognize them,  and,  singular  as  it  may  seem,  even  instructed 
Monsieur  Tissot,  their  representative  at  the  Court  of  St. 
James's  to  convey  to  the  Empress  Eugenie  their  thanks 
"  tres  respectueusement.' " 

But  the  interview  at  Ferrieres,  unfortunately  for 
France,  led  to  no  result.  And  no  satisfactory  result  was 
expected  by  the  German  Chancellor  from  an  interview 
with  M.  Favre,  or  any  other  representative  of  the  Govern- 


428         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

ment  of  the  National  Defense,  at  that  time.  This  was  the 
reason  why  the  Regent  was  invited  insidiously,  and  more 
directly,  to  take  a  part  in  the  negotiations  with  Prussia. 
But  history  must  always  give  her  the  credit  which  is  her 
due,  that  she  used  all  that  remained  of  her  power  in  the 
interest  and  for  the  welfare  of  her  country;  that  neither 
by  the  bitterness  of  her  misfortune,  nor  the  feeling  of  its 
injustice,  nor  by  the  desire  to  recover  the  throne  for  her 
husband  or  her  son,  was  she  induced  to  sacrifice  her  pa- 
triotism or  her  sense  of  the  Imperial  dignity.  Her  con- 
duct at  this  critical  moment,  as  we  shall  see,  was  inspired 
by  the  most  generous  self-renunciation.  Even  in  her 
greatest  humiliation  she  still  behaved  nobly  and  like  a 
sovereign. 

The  Revolution  of  September  4th,  as  we  know  from 
the  conversation  between  Count  Bismarck  and  General 
Wimpfen,  was  not  a  surprise  to  the  German  Chancellor. 
He  had  foreseen  it.  The  success  of  Prussia  was  complete ; 
and  the  great  Minister  of  King  William  had  a  good  right 
to  congratulate  himself  that  the  French  themselves  had 
assisted  him,  though  perhaps  unintentionally,  in  his  plans. 
The  Germans  all  recognized  this  fact.  On  September  8th, 
the  well-known  Bavarian  paper,  the  Augsburger  Allgemeine 
Zeitung,  said:  "  How  he  must  laugh  in  his  sleeve,  the 
great  diplomatist  who  now  wears  the  helmet  of  a  cuirassier, 
when  he  sees  the  change  which  the  planting  of  the  first 
Liberty  Tree  in  Paris  has  produced  in  the  sentiments  of 
Europe!  " 

The  Revolution  in  Paris,  although  it  was  on  the  whole 
favorable  to  the  development  of  Count  Bismarck's  plans, 
was  nevertheless  somewhat  embarrassing.  Bismarck  wished 
peace;  but  in  order  to  conclude  it,  he  needed  a  govern- 
ment in  France  that  would  be  strong  enough  to  accept 
the  heavy  concessions  which  he  had  determined  to  demand, 
and  that  at  the  same  time  would  be  lasting  enough  to  assure 


DIPLOMACY  429 

the  payment  of  the  enormous  retributive  contribution 
which  he  intended  to  impose  upon  the  country.  Now,  the 
gentlemen  of  the  National  Defense  could  not  contract  en- 
gagements in  the  name  of  France,  because  their  Govern- 
ment had  never  been  sanctioned  by  the  French  people; 
while  the  Regent,  although  de  jure  entitled  to  sign  a  treaty 
of  peace,  was  de  facto  powerless  to  have  her  signature  rec- 
ognized. The  German  "  diplomatist,"  however,  had  to 
choose  between  the  one  or  the  other  of  the  two  govern- 
ments ;  but  before  deciding  for  either,  he  commenced 
negotiations  with  both. 

On  September  11th  Count  Bismarck  began  to  execute 
his  projects.  On  that  day  he  caused  a  note  to  be  inserted 
in  the  Independant  Remois,  insinuating  that  the  Prussian 
Government  would  not  be  able  to  treat  with  the  Republican 
Government  of  the  National  Defense.  This  note  contained 
the  following  passage :  ' '  The  German  Governments  have 
hitherto  not  recognized  any  government  in  France  except 
that  of  the  Emperor  Napoleon ;  and  in  their  eyes,  up  to  the 
present  moment  the  Imperial  Government  is  the  only  one 
which  is  authorized  to  enter  into  negotiations  of  an  inter- 
national character.  .  .  .  They  could  treat  with  the 
Emperor  Napoleon,  or  with  the  Regency  instituted  by  him ; 
they  could  enter  into  communications  with  Marshal  Ba- 
zaine,  who  holds  command  from  the  Emperor;  but  it  is 
impossible  to  comprehend  under  what  title  the  German 
Governments  could  treat  with  a  power  which  represents 
only  a  part  of  the  left  wing  of  the  former  Chamber  of 
Deputies." 

Two  days  later,  when  the  German  Chancellor  received 

a   communication   through   the    Prussian    Ambassador    in 

London,  stating  that  M.  Jules  Favre  desired  to  have  an 

interview  with  him,  he  at  once  sent  to  Count  von  Berns- 

torff  an  answer  containing  this  passage:  "  I  said  in  my 

last  telegram  that  you  could  accept  all  kinds  of  overtures 

on  the  part  of  the  Queen  of  England,  but  that  you  could 
29 


430         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

not  attach  to  such  overtures  as  may  come  from  the  Gov- 
ernment which  at  present  actually  exists  in  Paris  the  same 
importance  which  an  overture  would  have  when  made  by 
the  Government  of  France.  The  Government  of  Paris  has 
not  been  recognized  by  the  nation,  and  the  Emperor  Na- 
poleon is,  for  foreign  Powers,  the  only  depositary  of 
sovereignty. ' ' 

This  despatch  was  communicated  to  M.  Thiers,  who 
had  just  arrived  in  London,  and  through  him  was  sent 
to  the  Government  of  the  National  Defense,  to  which  it 
gave  great  inquietude.  It  reached  Hastings  also,  undoubt- 
edly, through  the  agency  of  the  English  Foreign  Office; 
but  it  did  not  have  the  effect  of  causing  the  Empress 
to  intimate  even  that,  in  the  existing  circumstances,  she 
would  be  willing  to  reassume  the  responsibilities  of  sov- 
ereignty. 

The  Regent  did  not  abandon  the  passive  role  which  she 
had  imposed  upon  herself  on  the  4th  of  September.  She 
was  true  to  what  she  had  then  said;  were  she  to  fall,  she 
wished  to  do  so  without  encumbering  the  defense.  For 
this  reason  she  had  not  protested  against  the  Revolution, 
either  before  the  French  people  or  to  the  foreign  Powers. 
This  also  was  the  attitude  of  the  Emperor  himself.  He 
had  refused  at  Sedan  to  negotiate  for  peace,  declaring  that, 
from  the  moment  he  was  a  prisoner,  it  was  not  his  business 
to  do  so.  This  right,  he  said,  belonged  to  the  Regent. 
And  after  the  fall  of  his  Government  he  refused  still  more 
decidedly  to  take  part  in  any  negotiations.  He  might 
have  done  so  if  by  his  own  personal  influence  he  could 
have  procured  for  his  country  certain  conditions  of  peace, 
as,  for  instance,  a  guarantee  that  no  part  of  the  French 
territory  should  be  sacrificed;  but  this,  of  course,  was 
not  to  be  hoped  for  from  the  Prussian  Government.  Such 
being  the  situation,  it  could  be  foreseen  that  the  negotia- 
tions for  peace  would  probably,  at  last,  have  to  be  entered 
into  and  conducted  with  the  Republicans. 


CHAPTER   XVI 

INTRIGUES   AND    MORE   DIPLOMACY 

The  mysterious  M.  Regnier — His  interviews  with  Bismarck — The  situa- 
tion at  Metz — M.  Regnier  is  received  by  Marshal  Bazaine — General 
Bourbaki  leaves  for  Chislehurst — The  Empress  is  astonished — She 
tries  once  more  to  obtain  peace  on  favorable  terms — She  writes  to 
her  friend,  Francis  Joseph — The  memorandum  of  the  Emperor — 
General  Boyer  is  sent  to  the  German  head-quarters — His  inter- 
views with  Count  Bismarck — The  French  Army  makes  no  "  pro- 
nunciamentos " — A  council  of  war  at  Metz — "The  only  means  of 
salvation  " — General  Boyer  goes  to  Chislehurst — The  Council  at 
Camden  Place — The  Empress  declares  that  she  will  never  sign  a 
treaty  of  peace  in  ignorance  of  its  terms — Her  letter  to  General 
Boyer — A  lesson  never  forgotten — The  Alliance  with  Italy — The 
political  ideas  and  sympathies  of  the  Empress — An  interesting 
incident — Her  letters  to  the  Emperor,  written  in  October,  1869 — 
A  letter  written  in  October,  1896 — Justice  will  be  done. 

£T^$|p|pSN  the  12th  of  September  a  man  named  Regnier, 
2*22  who  had  never  occupied  any  public  position  in 

France,  and  who  had  no  known  relations  in 
the  political  world,  wrote  to  a  person  at 
Hastings,  submitting  to  him  a  project  for  the  restoration 
of  the  Napoleonic  dynasty  upon  a  special  basis,  the  most 
important  points  of  which  were  the  conclusion  of  peace, 
the  return  of  the  Regent  to  France,  and  the  reunion  of 
the  Legislative  Body  under  the  protection  of  the  army  of 
Metz.  Receiving  no  answer  to  his  letter,  on  the  14th,  two 
days  later,  Regnier  came  to  Hastings  and  asked  for  an  audi- 
ence before  the  Empress.  When,  however,  the  Empress 
refused  to  see  him,  he  exposed  his  views  to  a  friend  of  her 
Majesty,  trying  by  this  means  to  secure  favorable  notice 

431 


432         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

and  the  adoption  of  his  plans.  The  friend  in  question 
told  him  that  he  was  convinced  that  all  efforts  to  induce 
her  Majesty  to  consider  this  scheme  would  be  in  vain. 
Nevertheless  M.  Regnier  returned  the  next  day,  and  strenu- 
ously insisted  upon  seeing  the  Regent.  "  Her  inaction," 
said  he,  "  is  a  great  mistake ;  no  time  should  be  lost.  I, 
or  somebody  else,  ought  to  have  been  since  yesterday  in 
personal  communication  with  Count  Bismarck,  not  official- 
ly, but  confidentially  and  secretly. ' ' 

Receiving  another  refusal,  M.  Regnier  said  he  would 
go  to  Wilhelmshohe  and  offer  his  services  to  the  Emperor. 
But  fearing  he  might  find  it  difficult  to  obtain  access  to 
the  distinguished  prisoner,  he  waited  for  an  opportunity 
to  approach  the  Prince  Imperial.  On  meeting  his  High- 
ness, one  day,  when  walking  with  his  tutor,  M.  Filon, 
Regnier  accosted  them,  and  saying  he  was  about  to  leave 
for  Wilhelmshohe,  remarked,  apparently  in  a  casual  way 
— as  he  had  at  the  time  some  photographs  in  his  hand — 
"  If  the  Prince  would  like  to  send  a  souvenir  of  Hastings 
to  the  Emperor,  he  has  only  to  put  his  name  on  one  of 
these  photographs,  and  I  will  see  that  the  Emperor  gets 
it."  M.  Filon  consenting,  as  the  matter  seemed  to  him 
of  little  importance,  the  Prince  Imperial  wrote  under  one 
of  the  photographs :  ' '  My  dear  Papa ;  I  send  you  some 
views  of  Hastings.  I  hope  they  will  please  you."  And 
he  affixed  his  signature  to  these  words. 

As  soon  as  M.  Regnier  had  obtained  this  signature,  he 
departed,  not  for  Wilhelmshohe,  but  for  Ferrieres,  where, 
on  the  very  day  of  his  arrival — September  19th — the  inter- 
view between  Count  Bismarck  and  Jules  Favre  took  place. 
Whoever  M.  Regnier  may  have  been,  whether  a  Prussian 
agent  or  a  French  adventurer,  whom  the  Prussian  author- 
ities took  for  an  agent  of  the  Empress,  one  thing  is  certain, 
that,  having  in  his  possession  a  passport  obtained  at  the 
Prussian  Embassy  in  London,  he  passed  without  difficulty 
through  the  German  lines,  and  was  admitted,  the  very 


INTRIGUES    AND    DIPLOMACY  433 

moment  of  his  arrival  at  Ferrieres,  into  the  presence  of  the 
German  Chancellor.  Count  Bismarck  listened  to  M. 
Regnier's  plan  for  the  restoration  of  the  Empire,  and 
granted  him,  at  his  request,  a  laissez  passer,  enabling  him 
to  travel  with  safety  through  the  territory  occupied  by  the 
German  armies.  The  photographs,  however,  he  retained; 
and  a  few  moments  later  he  showed  them  to  M.  Jules  Favre, 
in  order  to  impress  upon  him  the  fact  that  negotiations 
were  going  on  between  himself  and  the  Empress. 

On  the  evening  of  the  day  following  the  fruitless 
interview  between  Jules  Favre  and  Bismarck,  the  German 
Chancellor  gave  another  audience  to  M.  Regnier.  The  lat- 
ter then  suggested  that,  instead  of  going  to  Wilhelmshohe, 
it  might  be  best  for  him  to  go  to  Metz,  in  order  to  induce 
Marshal  Bazaine  to  accept  his  plan  for  a  restoration  of 
the  Empire.  Count  Bismarck  approved  of  this  idea;  and 
M.  Regnier  departed,  furnished  with  the  necessary  passes, 
for  Metz.  On  the  23d  he  arrived  at  the  head-quarters  of 
the  German  army,  and  was  received  by  Prince  Frederick 
Charles,  who  had  been  prepared  by  a  telegram  from  Count 
Bismarck  announcing  Regnier's  arrival.  In  the  evening 
M.  Regnier  continued  his  journey,  and  entered  within 
the  fortifications  of  the  beleaguered  city. 

After  the  battle  of  Saint  Privat,  Marshal  Bazaine 
decided  that  it  would  be  the  wisest  thing  for  his  army  to 
remain  inside  the  fortifications  of  Metz;  and  this  decision 
had  been  taken  after  consulting  with  all  the  corps  com- 
manders. These  military  chiefs,  at  the  council  of  war  held 
August  26th  in  the  Castle  of  Grimont,  declared  that  it 
would  be  impossible  for  the  army  to  leave  Metz  without 
incurring  the  risk  of  a  total  defeat.  Nevertheless,  as  soon 
as  the  news  arrived  of  the  movement  of  Marshal  Mac- 
Mahon's  forces  in  the  direction  of  Metz,  an  attempt  was 
made  to  effect  a  junction  with  his  army.  On  the  evening 
of  August  30th  Marshal  Bazaine  marched  in  the  direction 
of  Thionville,   and  a  hard  fight  took  place  between  the 


434         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

French  and  the  German  troops,  lasting  until  late  in  the 
night.  The  next  morning  it  was  renewed,  but  the  Prus- 
sians remained  victorious,  for  during  the  night  they  had 
obtained  reenforcements.  This  was  the  last  great  battle 
in  which  the  army  of  Metz  was  engaged.  On  the  7th  of 
September  Marshal  Bazaine  heard  of  the  disaster  at  Sedan, 
and  a  few  days  later  of  the  Revolution  in  Paris.  M.  De- 
baine,  a  prisoner  who  had  escaped  from  the  German  out- 
posts, brought  into  Metz  papers  describing  the  situation  in 
France  and  the  events  which  had  recently  taken  place. 
The  Marshal,  greatly  moved  by  this  news,  addressed  him- 
self to  Prince  Frederick  Charles,  begging  of  him  infor- 
mation regarding  the  real  condition  of  the  country.  The 
Prince  answered  him  on  September  16th,  closing  his  letter 
with  a  phrase  which  was  a  direct  invitation  to  begin  nego- 
tiations. The  words  were :  ' '  Furthermore,  your  Excel- 
lency will  find  me  ready  and  authorized  to  send  to  him 
all  the  information  that  he  may  desire. ' '  *  These  words 
were  soon  afterward  confirmed  by  the  arrival  of  a  copy 
of  the  Independent  Bemois  of  the  11th,  containing  the 
communication  previously  quoted.  There  could  be  no 
doubt  that  the  Prussians  wished  to  negotiate  with  the 
army  of  Metz.  This,  of  course,  made  a  great  impression 
upon  the  Marshal,  for  his  army  was  already  reduced  to 
eating  the  cavalry  horses,  and  before  the  end  of  October 
there  would  be  no  provisions  of  any  kind  left.  Besides, 
there  was  no  hope  of  breaking  through  the  lines  of  the 
enemy,  at  least  as  far  as  Marshal  Bazaine  was  able  to  judge 
from  his  point  of  view. 

Thus  matters  stood  at  the  moment  of  the  arrival  of 
M.  Regnier.  An  agent  coming  from  the  Regent  might  be, 
possibly,  a  messenger  bringing  salvation  to  the  army. 
Moreover,  an  order  from  the  Empress  would  divest  the 
Marshal  of  the  necessity  for  treating  on  his  own  account. 

*  "L'Armee  du  Rhin,"  par  le  Marshal  Bazaine,  p.  119. 


INTRIGUES    AND    DIPLOMACY  435 

This  may  explain  the  benevolent  reception  which  the  Com- 
mander-in-Chief extended  to  an  individual  who  was  not 
known  to  any  one  in  the  city,  and  the  imprudence  with 
which  he  entrusted  to  him  information  concerning  the 
actual  condition  of  his  army.  Besides,  the  facility  with 
which  M.  Regnier  had  been  able  to  pass  through  the 
Prussian  lines  gave  an  appearance  of  truth  to  his  pretended 
mission.  The  interview  lasted  a  long  time.  M.  Regnier 
spoke  of  his  negotiations  with  Count  Bismarck ;  of  the  ruin 
that  must  follow  a  continuation  of  the  war;  of  the  desira- 
bility of  an  armistice;  of  the  important  role  which  the 
army  of  Metz  was  called  upon  to  play;  of  the  necessity  of 
sending  either  Marshal  Canrobert  or  General  Bourbaki  to 
the  Regent,  in  order  to  explain  to  her  the  perilous  state  of 
the  army  in  Metz,  and  to  induce  her  to  sign  a  treaty  of 
peace.  The  Marshal  answered  that  it  was,  of  course,  to  the 
interest  of  France  to  make  peace ;  and  that  if  the  army  were 
permitted  to  leave  Metz,  it  would  surely  be  able  to  maintain 
order  in  the  interior,  and  to  enforce  the  terms  of  peace  which 
should  be  agreed  upon.  As  a  sign  of  his  readiness  to  act 
upon  the  suggestions  of  Regnier,  he  consented  to  place  his 
signature  beside  that  of  the  Prince  Imperial,  at  the  foot  of 
the  photograph  which  Regnier  had  again  in  his  possession. 
M.  Regnier  returned  the  next  day  to  the  Prussian 
head-quarters,  where  Prince  Frederick  Charles  showed  him 
two  telegrams  which  he  had  received  from  Count  Bismarck, 
announcing  that  Jules  Favre  had  rejected  the  conditions 
on  which  alone  the  King  was  willing  to  consent  to  an 
armistice.  The  Prince  then  said  that  he  would  authorize 
a  French  general  to  leave  Metz  in  order  to  go  to  England 
and  confer  with  the  Regent.  M.  Regnier  went  back  im- 
mediately to  report  this  news  to  Marshal  Bazaine.  There- 
upon it  was  decided  that  General  Bourbaki  should  depart 
for  Chislehurst;  and  that  same  evening  the  General  left 
Metz  disguised  as  a  physician.* 

*  "Proems  Bazaine."     "Quel  est  votre  nom?"     Par  M.  Regnier. 


436         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

Two  or  three  days  later  (September  27th)  General 
Bourbaki  arrived  at  Camden  Place.  While  en  route,  hav- 
ing learned  the  situation  of  things  in  France,  brought  about 
by  the  Revolution,  and  seeing  that,  in  fact,  he  held  no  com- 
mission to  act  from  any  one  in  authority,  he  began  to  feel 
embarrassed.  His  surprise  can  be  imagined  when,  on  pre- 
senting himself  before  the  Empress,  she  expressed  her 
astonishment  that  he  should  be  in  England,  and  informed 
him  that  she  had  not  requested  him  to  leave  Metz;  that 
she  knew  nothing  whatsoever  of  M.  Regnier's  plans,  and 
that  she  did  not  remember  to  have  ever  before  even  heard 
his  name. 

The  scene  that  followed  was  most  distressing.  The 
Empress  could  not  conceal  her  indignation  on  discovering 
that  she  had  been  made  unbeknown  to  her  the  principal  in  a 
miserable  intrigue.  And  General  Bourbaki,  when  he  found 
that  he  had  been  basely  duped,  was  so  overcome  with  anger 
and  mortification  as  to  be  quite  beside  himself.  All  he 
could  say  for  several  minutes  was:  "  I  want  to  go  back! 
Why  have  I  been  sent  here?  I  want  to  go  back!  I  want 
to  go  back!  " 

Although  the  Empress  had  not  been  at  all  implicated 
in  the  machinations  by  which  General  Bourbaki  had  been 
induced  to  leave  Metz,  she  was  greatly  pained  by  the  in- 
formation which  the  General  gave  her  with  regard  to  the 
situation  and  condition  of  the  army  shut  up  in  that  strong- 
hold. 

It  was  impossible  for  her  to  interfere  directly  with  the 
course  of  things,  but  she  resolved  once  more  to  use  her 
influence  with  the  foreign  Powers,  to  induce  them  to  advise 
the  Prussian  King  to  make  the  conditions  of  peace  moder- 
ate. It  was  under  these  circumstances,  and  for  this  pur- 
pose, that  she  wrote,  September  28th,  to  her  friend,  Fran- 
cis Joseph. 

"  Misfortunes,"  she  said  in  this  letter,  "  have  been 
poured  down  upon  us,  Sire.     The  Emperor,  being  a  pris- 


INTRIGUES    AND    DIPLOMACY  437 

oner,  can  at  this  moment  do  nothing  for  his  country.  But 
I,  having  been  obliged  to  leave  France  against  my  own  will, 
cannot  remain  silent  in  the  midst  of  so  much  sorrow  and 
ruin.  I  believe  that,  in  addressing  myself  to  your  Majesty, 
your  Majesty  will  understand  that  my  only  care  is  for 
France ;  that  for  it  alone  my  heart  is  greatly  moved,  and 
that  for  it  alone  I  pray.  I  hope  your  Majesty  will  employ 
your  influence  to  protect  my  country  against  humiliating 
demands,  and  to  obtain  for  it  a  peace  by  which  the  integ- 
rity of  its  territory  shall  be  respected. ' ' 

M.  Regnier 's  role  was  finished  from  the  moment  the 
Empress  refused  his  mediation.  As  he  was  unable  to  show 
any  regular  credentials,  the  Germans  now  declined  to  listen 
to  his  propositions,  and  he  disappeared  from  the  stage  where 
for  a  brief  time  he  had  figured.* 

Nevertheless,  Count  Bismarck  had  not  yet  given  up  the 
hope  of  coming  to  an  understanding  with  the  Imperial 
party,  and  he  therefore  addressed  himself  to  Napoleon  III. 
The  Emperor  had  not  directly  refused  to  enter  into  pre- 
liminary negotiations ;  he  would  have  consented  to  do  this 
could  only  a  basis  favorable  to  France  have  been  obtained. 
On  September  27th  he  had  sent  General  Castelnau  to  the 
head-quarters  of  the  King  of  Prussia  with  a  memorandum 

*  It  has  never  been  quite  clear  for  whom  this  man  Regnier  was 
acting.  There  is  good  reason,  however,  for  believing  the  statement 
made  by  General  Boyer  before  the  Parliamentary  Commission  ap- 
pointed to  inquire  into  the  acts  of  the  Government  of  the  National 
Defense.     It  is  as  follows: 

"M.  Regnier  was  certainly  a  Prussian  agent  acting  in  accord  with 
the  Russian  Government.  The  two  Governments  in  question  had 
come  to  an  understanding  to  make  use  of  Regnier  for  the  purpose  of 
obtaining  a  treaty  from  the  Government  of  the  Empress  Regent; 
Prussia  not  wishing  to  treat  with  the  Government  of  the  National 
Defense;  and  Russia  not  being  willing  to  employ  its  good  offices  on  any 
other  than  monarchical  grounds.  Russia  had  no  wish  to  give  its  aid  to  a 
Revolutionary  Government." — "Enquete  Parlementaire."  Tome  iv, 
p.  253. 


438         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

in  which  he  suggested  that  since,  in  his  opinion,  the  strug- 
gle between  France  and  Germany  could  never  come  to  an 
end  except  through  the  total  destruction  of  one  of  the  two 
adversaries,  or  through  their  honest  and  loyal  reconciliation 
guaranteed  by  the  dismantlement  of  the  fortifications 
(which  would  then  become  unnecessary),  such  a  reconcilia- 
tion was  most  earnestly  to  be  desired.  Count  Bismarck, 
however,  considered  the  military  situation  as  too  favorable 
to  Germany  to  accept  the  Emperor's  proposition.  While 
intimating  that,  the  day  after  the  capitulation  of  Sedan,  he 
might  have  been  satisfied  with  a  heavy  indemnity  and  the 
dismantlement  of  the  fortifications,  now,  after  the  siege  of 
Paris  had  commenced,  and  the  siege  of  Strasburg  and  the 
investment  of  Metz  were  approaching  an  end,  the  Chan- 
cellor demanded  a  concession  of  territory  as  a  sine  qua  non. 

The  situation  of  the  troops  in  Metz  became  from  day  to 
day  more  critical.  A  council  of  war  decided,  on  the  10th 
of  October,  to  parley  with  the  enemy  in  order  to  obtain 
for  the  army  honorable  conditions  of  capitulation;  but  in 
case  the  Germans  were  to  impose  terms  incompatible  with 
sentiments  of  honor  and  military  duty,  salvation  was  to  be 
sought  on  the  battle-field.  General  Boyer,  an  aide-de-camp 
of  Marshal  Bazaine,  was  then  sent  to  the  German  head- 
quarters to  ascertain  under  what  conditions  the  army  could 
leave  Metz.  This  envoy  of  the  Marshal  arrived  on  the 
14th  at  Versailles,  where  Count  Bismarck  informed  him 
that  if  simply  a  military  capitulation  was  intended,  and 
not  peace,  General  von  Moltke  was  resolved  to  impose  upon 
the  army  in  Metz  terms  exactly  like  those  required  at 
Sedan. 

When  General  Boyer  protested  against  this,  declaring 
that  the  army  in  Metz  would  never  accept  such  conditions, 
Count  Bismarck  added,  "  Perhaps  I  can  suggest  some 
political  considerations  to  the  King  and  his  Council  ";  and 
taking  the  General  aside,  the  Chancellor  explained  to  him 


INTRIGUES    AND    DIPLOMACY  439 

that,  in  his  opinion,  the  moment  for  peace  had  arrived,  and 
that  Germany  desired  peace  quite  as  much  as  France. 
"  But  in  order  to  make  peace,"  he  continued,  "  we  must 
have  a  serious  and  strong  government  to  treat  with,  one 
which  can  guarantee  it.  The  King  cannot  treat  with  the 
Government  of  the  National  Defense,  which  has  been  unable 
to  conceal  from  him  its  dangerous  designs.  He  is  abso- 
lutely decided  not  to  treat  with  the  Government  of  Paris, 
and  still  less  with  that  of  Tours.  I  can,  besides,  assure 
you  that  the  German  Government  is  not  hostile  to  the  Im- 
perial dynasty,  and  that  it  is  not  hostile  to  the  Imperial 
form  of  Government ;  on  the  contrary,  it  even  believes  that 
this  form  of  government  is  most  suitable  to  the  French 
people.  And,"  he  remarked,  "  the  King  is  personally  in 
favor  of  a  restoration  of  the  Napoleonic  dynasty  in  the  per- 
son of  the  Prince  Imperial,  and  under  the  Regency  of  the 
Empress,  the  Council  to  be  presided  over  by  a  Marshal  of 
France.  Nevertheless,  we  do  not  wish  to  again  commit  the 
fault  which  we  committed  in  1815,  that  of  imposing  a  gov- 
ernment upon  France ;  she  must  choose  one  for  herself,  or 
at  least  she  must  sanction  one. ' ' 

Then  the  German  statesman  vividly  described  to  Gen- 
eral Boyer  what  the  interior  situation  of  France  had  been 
since  September  4th;  and  he  insisted  particularly  on  the 
impotency  of  the  French  army  in  the  provinces.  He 
showed  that  the  army  of  Metz,  after  leaving  the  fortifica- 
tions, could  place  itself  at  the  disposal  of  the  Legislative 
Body,  and  reestablish  order  and  regular  government. 
"  But,"  he  remarked,  "  the  King  will  not  set  free  the  army 
of  Metz  until  peace  is  assured.  It  is  therefore  necessary 
that  the  Regent  should  sign  the  Treaty  of  Peace;  and  in 
order  that  her  signature  may  be  of  value,  it  is  also  necessary 
that  the  army  of  Metz  should  promise  to  sustain  the  Im- 
perial Government.  What  is  the  feeling  of  the  army 
towards  the  Empire  1  ' '  then  asked  the  Chancellor. 

General  Boyer  said  that  the  army  had  not  recognized 


440         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

the  Government  of  the  National  Defense,  which  had  hitherto 
not  communicated  with  it;  that,  moreover,  the  army  had 
taken  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  Emperor,  and  that  it 
would  remain  faithful  to  this  oath.  Such  an  assurance, 
however,  seemed  to  the  Chancellor  insufficient,  and  he  ex- 
pressed a  desire  that  the  army  should  make  a  public  man- 
ifestation in  favor  of  the  Regent.  This  would  have  been  a 
veritable  pronunciamento,  and  General  Boyer  energetically 
refused  to  consent  to  it.  Count  Bismarck  replied:  "  A 
manifestation  of  the  army  is,  however,  indispensable,  for 
the  Empress  will  not  engage  herself  in  negotiations  if  she 
is  not  sure  that  she  will  be  upheld  by  the  army  in  what 
she  does.  You  will  have  to  obtain  from  her  Majesty  the 
signature  of  the  preliminaries  of  peace;  and  under  these 
conditions  you  can  depart  with  the  honors  of  war,  taking 
along  your  arms,  your  cannons,  and  your  materiel;  and 
Metz  will  remain  free  and  will  be  her  own  mistress,  so  that 
she  can  defend  herself  with  the  means  at  her  disposal. 
With  these  conditions,"  said  Count  Bismarck,  "  I  shall  per- 
haps be  able  to  persuade  the  King  not  to  insist  upon  the 
surrender  of  Metz. ' ' 

The  next  day  the  Count  again  met  the  French  General, 
and  he  informed  him  that  King  William  was  willing  to 
treat  with  the  Regent,  and  without  demanding  the  sur- 
render of  Metz.  "  Go,  therefore,"  the  Chancellor  said, 
"  and  obtain  from  the  Empress  the  signature  of  the  pre- 
liminaries, and  from  the  army  the  promise  to  make  a  pub- 
lic declaration  of  a  firm  intention  to  follow  the  Empress. 
Then  you  will  have  what  I  told  you  yesterday — the  army 
will  retreat  with  the  honors  of  war,  taking  along  with  it  its 
cannons  and  flags.  But  it  is  clearly  understood  that  it  is 
to  the  Regent  that  you  are  to  address  yourself;  for  she  is 
the  only  person  that  still  exists,  the  only  one  with  whom  I 
can  treat." 

General  Boyer  repeated  what  he  had  said  the  evening 
before — that  the  French  army  makes  no  pronunciamentos; 


INTRIGUES    AND    DIPLOMACY  441 

but  he  expressed  a  wish  to  know  what  conditions  of  peace 
would  be  offered  to  the  Regent. 

Count  Bismarck  refused  to  reveal  these  to  anybody  ex- 
cept to  the  Empress  herself,  or  to  some  one  invested  with 
power  to  act  in  her  name. 

On  October  17th  General  Boyer  brought  to  Metz  the 
ultimatum  of  Count  Bismarck.  A  council  of  war  was 
called  together  the  next  morning,  to  consider  whether  the 
negotiations  should  be  continued;  but  the  thought  of  pro- 
voking a  public  manifestation  of  the  army  in  favor  of  the 
Empire  met  with  strong  opposition.  Nevertheless,  as  it 
was  necessary  to  know  whether  the  troops  could  be  counted 
upon,  it  was  decided  to  interrogate  the  colonels  with  regard 
to  the  sentiments  of  the  officers.  In  the  evening  a  second 
meeting  took  place,  and  Marshals  Canrobert  and  Lebceuf, 
and  Generals  Froissart  and  Desvaux,  reported  that  all  the 
officers  would  follow  them,  and  that  the  army  could  be 
counted  upon.  With  respect  to  the  expediency  of  sending 
an  officer  to  the  Regent  for  the  purpose  of  inducing  her  to 
negotiate  a  treaty,  the  views  were  greatly  divided,  some 
members  of  the  council  having  a  repugnance  to  enter  into 
political  combinations,  the  others  declaring  it  impossible  to 
have  recourse  to  arms.  Finally,  General  Changarnier's 
opinion  carried  the  day ;  and  it  was  recognized  by  the  coun- 
cil of  war  "  that  the  only  means  of  salvation,  not  only  for 
the  army  but  also  for  France,  was  to  rally  openly  around 
the  Government  of  the  Regent. ' '  * 

It  was  then  decided  that  permission  should  be  obtained 
from  Prince  Frederick  Charles  to  send  an  officer  to  the 
Empress.  And  on  this  permission  being  granted,  to  Gen- 
eral Boyer  was  entrusted  the  mission  of  explaining  to  her 
Majesty  the  situation  at  Metz,  and  soliciting  her  assistance 
in  order  to  save  the  army. 

General    Boyer    arrived    at    Chislehurst    October    22d. 

*"Enquete  Parlementaire."     Tome  iv,  p.  250. 


442         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

He  told  the  Regent  that  he  considered  the  army  at  Metz 
as  lost,  if  some  arrangement  were  not  made  with  the  enemy- 
very  soon ;  that  when  he  left  Metz  there  were  but  two  days ' 
rations  remaining,  and  that  the  last  ration  of  bread  had 
already  been  eaten.  He  said  to  her  Majesty  that  the  Gov- 
ernment would  be  reestablished  in  a  regular  manner 
through  the  agency  of  the  Legislative  Body,  the  Senate, 
and  the  Ministerial  Representatives  of  the  Government,  if 
they  could  be  convoked — that  the  Legislative  Body,  which 
had  been  dispersed  by  the  mob  on  the  4th  of  September, 
should  resume  its  sessions  seemed  most  natural — or  that  an 
appeal  should  be  made  to  the  people.  He  endeavored  to 
impress  it  upon  the  mind  of  her  Majesty  that  she  alone 
could  solve  the  difficulty  by  hastening  to  accept  the  propo- 
sitions made  by  Count  Bismarck ;  and  that  if  she  consented 
to  do  this,  she  could  count  upon  the  concurrence  of  her 
troops.  He  told  her,  furthermore,  that  he,  General  Boyer, 
was  charged  by  Marshal  Bazaine  and  the  other  general 
officers  to  make  this  announcement. 

The  Regent  understood  that  she  could  not  refuse  her 
intervention  at  so  critical  a  moment.  But  before  binding 
herself  to  negotiate  a  treaty,  she  wished  to  ascertain  what 
conditions  Count  Bismarck  would  stipulate;  for  she  was 
afraid  of  sacrificing  the  interests  of  the  country  in  attempt- 
ing to  save  the  army.  She  therefore  telegraphed  at  once 
to  Count  Bismarck,  in  order  to  show  that  she  was  willing 
to  negotiate,  and,  without  saying  anything  of  her  further 
intentions,  requested  for  the  army  of  Metz  an  armistice  of 
fourteen  days,  with  permission  meanwhile  to  procure  pro- 
visions. At  the  same  time,  she  asked  for  the  preliminary 
conditions  of  peace  which  he  would  propose. 

In  the  afternoon  her  Majesty  called  together  at  Cam- 
den Place  a  council  consisting  of  MM.  Rouher,  La  Valette, 
Chevreau,  Jerome  David,  the  Duke  de  Persigny,  and  Prince 
Napoleon.  To  this  council  General  Boyer  also  was  admit- 
ted.    Here  he  once  more  repeated  what  he  had  said  in  the 


INTRIGUES    AND    DIPLOMACY  443 

forenoon,  urging  her  Majesty  to  eome  to  a  definite  decision, 
and  emphatically  maintaining  that,  if  the  delay  should  be 
prolonged,  the  army  of  Metz  would  be  forced  to  lay  down  its 
arms.  Her  Majesty  answered  that  she  would  use  her  in- 
fluence in  behalf  of  peace,  but  that  she  could  not  act  before 
she  had  ascertained  what  preliminary  conditions  would  be 
imposed. 

What  these  terms  would  be  General  Boyer  either  would 
not  or  could  not  tell  her.  He  said  that  he  did  not 
know ;  that  Count  Bismarck  had  not  informed  him ;  that 
his  mission  to  Versailles  was  not  political,  but  military — 
undertaken  for  the  purpose  of  saving  the  army.  At  last 
he  said,  "  No  matter  how  exorbitant,  you  must  accept  them 
and  sign  them. ' '  On  hearing  these  words,  the  Empress  was 
greatly  shocked. 

And  then  she  writes  a  last  despatch  to  King  William,  in 
which  she  appeals  to  his  "  kingly  heart,"  to  his  "  gener- 
osity as  a  soldier,"  and  begs  of  him  to  grant  her  request 
made  in  the  telegram  addressed  to  Count  Bismarck.  But 
the  King  is  dumb. 

Neither  could  the  Empress  obtain  any  information  upon 
the  subject  from  the  Prussian  Ambassador  to  London.  In 
an  interview  Count  Bernstorff  had  with  her  on  the  25th, 
he  would  only  go  so  far  as  to  say  that  the  German  Chan- 
cellor would  give  to  the  Regent  much  more  favorable  condi- 
tions than  to  either  of  the  existing  Governments.  He  ad- 
mitted that  he  knew  the  conditions — that  some  cession  of 
territory  would  probably  be  required — but  finally  closed  the 
conversation  by  referring  her  to  General  Boyer. 

Most  anxious  to  ascertain  what  the  preliminary  condi- 
tions might  be,  the  Empress  now  telegraphed  to  the  Em- 
peror at  Wilhelmshohe,  asking  him  if  he  knew  anything 
about  them.  But  the  answer  she  received  threw  no  light 
upon  the  subject  of  her  inquiry. 

It  was  certain  that  the  terms  which  Count  Bismarck  had 
determined  to  exact  were  hard.     Hard  as  they  might  be, 


444         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

nevertheless  it  might  have  been  the  duty  of  the  Empress  to 
accept  them.  This  she  fully  recognized  at  the  time,  and 
frankly  admitted  when  speaking  to  me  on  this  subject  not 
long  ago.  But  what  made  it  absolutely  impossible  for  her 
Majesty  to  think  of  accepting  them — of  putting  her  name  to 
the  proposed  preliminary  treaty — was  that,  to  all  intents 
and  purposes,  it  was  only  the  blank  form  of  a  treaty  that 
was  to  be  presented  to  her  for  her  signature,  the  important 
clauses  of  which  were  to  be  filled  in  subsequently  by  the 
German  Chancellor  at  his  own  good  pleasure.  This  hu- 
miliation the  Empress  would  not  submit  to,  and  she  de- 
clared, furthermore,  that  she  would  never  take  such  a  re- 
sponsibility upon  herself  as  to  engage  in  negotiations  with 
the  German  Chancellor  without  seeing  clearly  their  end 
and  purpose ;  that  she  was  too  much  of  a  Frenchwoman,  and 
too  sincerely  attached  to  France,  to  do  so ;  and  that  in  case 
the  conditions  could  not  be  laid  before  her  in  the  most  exact 
form,  and  the  thought  of  a  cession  of  French  territory 
should  not  be  given  up  entirely,  she  would  not  treat  with 
the  King  of  Prussia,  even  to  prevent  the  surrender  of  the 
army. 

Thus  the  mission  of  General  Boyer  failed,  and  five  days 
later,  on  October  27th,  the  army  of  Metz  capitulated. 

To  the  letter  in  which  General  Boyer  announced  to  the 
Empress  the  surrender  of  the  army  of  Marshal  Bazaine  and 
the  fortress  of  Metz,  she  replied : 

' '  I  have  just  received  your  letter.  Stunned  as  I  am  by 
the  painful  news,  I  can  only  express  to  you  my  admiration 
for  this  valiant  army  and  its  chiefs.  Overwhelmed  by 
numbers,  but  faithful  guardians  of  the  glory  and  the  honor 
of  our  unhappy  country,  they  have  preserved  intact  the 
traditions  of  our  ancient  legions.  You  know  the  efforts 
I  have  made,  and  my  inability,  to  avert  a  fate  that  I  would 
willingly  have  spared  them  at  the  sacrifice  of  my  most 
cherished  hopes.     .     .     . 

"  When  you  rejoin  your  companions-in-arms,  tell  them 


INTRIGUES    AND    DIPLOMACY  445 

that  they  have  been  the  hope,  the  pride,  and  the  sorrow  of 
one  who  is  an  exile,  like  themselves." 

Most  of  the  facts  here  set  forth  referring  to  these  polit- 
ical intrigues  are  now  matters  of  common  history.  At  the 
time  the  events  occurred,  however,  they  were  known  to 
only  a  few  persons — to  the  parties  directly  concerned,  or 
to  those  living  in  close  connection  with  them.  But  the  feel- 
ing of  the  Empress  and  of  the  Emperor  with  regard  to  the 
several  attempts  of  the  German  Chancellor  to  induce  them 
to  consent  to  a  disgraceful  peace,  and  to  the  dismember- 
ment of  France,  for  the  sake  of  the  Empire  and  the  dynasty, 
can  never  be  fully  understood  or  appreciated,  except  by 
those  persons  whose  privilege  it  was  to  hear  from  their 
own  lips  the  words  of  noble  disdain  with  which  those  Gre- 
cian gifts  were  repudiated  and  refused.* 

On  the  28th  of  September,  1840,  when  on  trial  before  the 
Chamber  of  Peers  at  the  Palace  of  the  Luxembourg  on  ac- 
count of  the  Boulogne  affair,  Prince  Louis  Napoleon,  in  the 
speech  he  made  in  his  own  defense,  said:  "  The  Emperor, 
my  uncle,  preferred  rather  to  abdicate  the  Empire  than  to 
accept  through  treaties  such  restricted  frontiers  as  would 
result  in  compelling  France  to  submit  to  the  contempt  and 
the  threats  that  are  offered  to  her  by  the  foreigner  at  the 
present  time.  Not  for  a  single  day  have  I  breathed  forget- 
ful of  this  lesson." 

Probably  these  words,  when  they  were  uttered,  were  not 
noticed,  or  were  only  received  with  a  derisive  smile,  but 
they  have  now  a  singular  significance.  They  were  not  vain 
words;  they  were  imperious  and  far-reaching.  The  Pre- 
tender of  1840  was  Emperor  in  1870,  but  still  carried  in 

*  "Depuis  que  je  suis  en  Angleterre  j'ai  constats  dans  1'esprit  de 
Sa  Majeste  le  meme  sentiment  invincible,  eelui  de  1' impossibility  pour 
un  Napoldon  d'apposer  sa  signature  sur  un  Traite'  de  paix  stipulant  la 
mutilation  du  territoire." — See  letter  of  M.  E.  Rouher  to  M.  Granier  de 
Cassagnac.  "  Souvenirs  du  Second  Empire,"  par  M.  Granier  de  Cassag- 
nac. 

30 


446         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

his  soul  the  lesson  of  his  uncle ;  and  the  lesson  is,  that  the 
Empire  cannot  exist  in  a  dismembered,  degraded,  and 
decadent  France. 

Those  writers  who  have  attributed  the  Franco- German 
War  to  the  political  influence  of  the  Empress,  and  have 
even  ascribed  to  her  a  desire  to  seize  the  reins  of  govern- 
ment, have  been  much  more  anxious  to  find  reasons  to  jus- 
tify their  personal  animosities  or  their  political  conduct 
than  to  contribute  to  the  truth  of  history;  they  certainly 
show  how  little  they  really  knew  of  her  character,  or  of  that 
of  the  Emperor,  or  of  the  men  and  the  influences  that 
directed  the  policy  of  the  Imperial  Government. 

It  has  often  been  said  that  the  alliance  with  Italy  could 
have  been  promptly  made  in  July,  1870,  had  not  French 
diplomacy  at  this  time  been  blinded  by  religious  prejudices 
and  controlled  by  clerical  considerations — in  a  word,  but  for 
the  violent  opposition  of  the  Empress  to  one  of  the  condi- 
tions of  the  alliance.  It  is  true  there  was  but  one  obstacle 
that  stood  in  the  way  of  an  immediate  understanding 
between  the  two  Governments  with  respect  to  the  proposed 
compact.  This  was  the  price  that  Italy  asked — which  was 
the  occupation  of  Rome.  That  the  French  Government 
should  have  hesitated,  in  fact,  should  have  refused  to  con- 
cede this,  as  a  condition  precedent  to  an  offensive  alliance, 
can  surprise  no  one  who  has  respect  for  the  obligations  of 
treaties  or  who  understands  the  depth  and  power  of  relig- 
ious feeling  in  France,  especially  in  social  and  military 
circles. 

' '  France  cannot, ' '  said  the  Duke  de  Gramont,  ' '  defend 
its  honor  on  the  Rhine  and  sacrifice  it  on  the  Tiber  ";  and 
again,  when  General  Tiirr  wrote  to  the  French  Minister  of 
Foreign  Affairs,  in  July,  saying,  "  Italy  will  not  enter  into 
an  alliance  with  France  until  Rouher's  '  jamais  '  has  been 
repudiated,"  M.  de  Gramont  in  a  despatch  to  the  French 
Minister  at  Vienna,  La  Tour  d  'Auvergne,  said :  ' '  Tell  Tiirr 


INTRIGUES    AND    DIPLOMACY  447 

that  I  have  received  his  letter,  but  that  it  is  impossible 
for  us  to  do  the  least  thing  for  Rome."  And  a  few  days 
later  (July  27th),  in  a  despatch  to  La  Tour  d'Auvergne, 
referring  to  this  idea  of  securing  an  ally  by  despoiling  the 
Pope  of  his  temporal  possessions,  he  said :  ' '  There  would 
burst  out  in  Prance  a  cry  of  indignation  that  would  stigma- 
tize us.  The  proceeding  would  be  more  keenly  resented  by 
our  people  than  the  conduct  of  the  Prussian  Government." 

The  position  taken  by  the  Imperial  Government  was  that 
if  Italy  was  unwilling  to  march,  except  on  the  condition 
above  referred  to,  her  cooperation  was  not  to  be  desired. 
And  no  other  position,  at  the  moment,  was  possible.  There 
was  in  this  decision  of  the  Imperial  Government  no  question 
of  the  personal  religious  predilections  and  sentiments  of  the 
Empress  or  of  any  one  connected  with  the  Government. 
In  fact,  M.  Emile  Ollivier  wrote  to  the  Emperor  saying: 
' '  Your  Majesty  knows  that  I  am  not  a  partizan  of  the  tem- 
poral power  of  the  Pope — but  no  alliance  is  worth  a  breach 
of  good  faith."  The  Imperial  Government  merely  recog- 
nized what  was  then  plain  to  the  simplest  understanding, 
that  it  would  be  folly  to  obtain  the  cooperation  of  Italy 
by  an  act  that  would  immediately  alienate  from  it  the  sup- 
port of  a  large  and  influential  part  of  the  French  people, 
without  whose  assistance  the  army  was  foredoomed  to  defeat 
and  the  Government  itself  to  destruction  in  the  impending 
conflict.  French  diplomacy  in  this  matter  was  not  directed 
by  the  personal  feelings  of  any  individual  having  in  view 
ecclesiastical  interests,  but  by  common  sense  and  in  the  in- 
terest of  the  whole  French  nation. 

Nor  was  it  necessary  that  the  Regent  should  yield  on  the 
Roman  question — Italy  would  have  soon  joined  with  France 
had  not  events  moved  with  such  surprising  rapidity — had 
not  the  first  news  from  the  seat  of  war  put  a  stop  to  all 
further  negotiations.* 

*  In  the  afternoon  of  the  8th  of  August,  1S70,  while  visiting  my 
aunt,  Mrs.  George  P.  Marsh,  the  wife  of  the  American  Minister  to  Italy, 


448         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

The  Empress  rarely,  if  ever,  presumed  to  take  anything 
more  than  a  sentimental  interest  in  questions  of  interna- 
tional polities — affairs  always  of  deep  study  and  concern 
with  the  Emperor.  Not  but  that  she  was  always  greatly 
interested  in  questions  that  related  to  the  general  welfare 
of  the  Empire,  and  was  able  to  grasp  their  content  and  was 
quick  to  perceive  its  significance,  and  could  discuss  with 
intelligence  and  eloquence  the  policy  of  the  Government,  or 
of  its  adversaries,  whether  domestic  or  foreign.  But  her 
political  opinions,  however  strong  her  feelings,  were  sel- 
dom expressed  under  a  sense  of  responsibility ;  this  she  was 
willing  to  leave  with  the  Emperor  and  his  Ministers. 

The  Empress  occupied  herself  with  domestic  concerns 
rather  than  with  foreign  affairs,  and  the  exterior  policies 
of  the  Government  and  party  politics  interested  her  very 
much  less  than  political  economy,  or  the  application  of 
the  discoveries  of  science  to  useful  ends;  for  she  fully 
believed,  with  Bentham,  that  the  aim  and  the  justifica- 

who  was  then  spending  a  few  days  in  Paris,  at  the  Hotel  Vouillemont, 
the  Chevalier  Nigra,  the  Italian  Ambassador  to  the  Imperial  Court, 
called  to  see  this  lady  whom  he  had  known  for  many  years  as  a  sym- 
pathetic friend  of  the  cause  of  United  Italy.  The  report  of  the  French 
reverses  at  Froeschwiller  and  Forbach  had  just  reached  Paris;  and  the 
war,  of  course,  was  the  subject  uppermost  in  the  minds  of  all.  After 
a  few  words  of  greeting  —  and  inquiries  about  mutual  friends  in 
Florence  and  Turin — "Now,"  said  my  aunt,  addressing  Signor  Nigra, 
"do  tell  us  something  about  that  alliance — is  it  ever  to  be  a  fait  ac- 
compli?" "C'est  trop  tard!"  was  the  quick  reply.  The  accent  and 
the  expressive  movement  with  which  the  utterance  of  these  short 
words  was  accompanied  were  most  significant.  It  was  impossible  to 
mistake  the  idea  they  were  intended  to  convey.  It  was  quite  un- 
necessary for  the  Minister  to  add,  that  only  an  hour  before  he  had  re- 
ceived from  his  chief,  Visconti  Venosta,  the  despatch  in  which  he  said: 
"Malaret  lui-meme  semble  comprendre  notre  abstention'' ';  that  if  these 
reverses  had  not  come  so  quickly — if  we  could  only  have  had  another 
ten  days — the  Italian  army  would  have  been  set  in  motion,  and  my 
King — il  re  galantuomo — would  have  made  a  return  to  the  Emperor  for 
the  generous  services  he  rendered  him  in  1859,  and  which  we  (Italians) 
shall  never  forget. 


INTRIGUES    AND    DIPLOMACY  449 

tion  of  a  Government  should  be  "  the  happiness  of  the 
greatest  number."  She  therefore  most  heartily  sympa- 
thized and  cooperated  with  the  Emperor  in  all  his  plans 
for  the  uplifting  of  the  poor,  and  especially  of  the  artisan 
classes.  The  strong  desire  her  Majesty  still  has,  as  she  has 
always  had,  to  level  things  up,  I  could  not  more  aptly  illus- 
trate than  by  recounting  a  little  incident  that  occurred  not 
long  ago  at  Farnborough.  One  day,  after  reference  had 
been  made  to  the  immense  fortunes  of  the  few  and  the 
penury  of  the  many,  the  Empress  remarked:  "Under  ex- 
isting social  conditions,  no  matter  how  much  our  knowledge 
and  control  over  the  forces  of  nature  are  increased,  the  re- 
sult seems  only  to  increase  the  startling  inequalities  in  the 
distribution  of  the  earnings  of  labor,  and  to  multiply  and 
intensify  class  distinctions.  Is  a  remedy  for  this  state  of 
things  never  going  to  be  found?  And  if  not,  what  must 
be  the  consequences?  " 

As  it  was  not  very  easy  to  answer  these  questions,  I 
said :  "  I  once  took  the  liberty,  half  in  jest,  to  tell  the  Em- 
peror that  his  sympathies  seemed  to  me  to  be  socialistic. 
Whereupon,  to  my  surprise,  he  frankly  admitted  that  they 
were.  And  I  think  I  may  infer,  from  what  your  Majesty 
has  just  said,  that  your  own  sympathies  have  always  been, 
like  those  of  the  Emperor,  with  the  masses,  and  not  with 
the  classes.  Indeed,  your  idea  of  the  object  of  Government 
would  appear  to  scarcely  differ  from  that  of  Abraham  Lin- 
coln, whose  conception  of  a  '  Republic  '  was,  '  that  form 
and  substance  of  government  the  leading  object  of  which 
is  to  elevate  the  condition  of  men,  to  lift  artificial  weights 
from  all  shoulders,  to  clear  the  path  of  laudable  pursuit 
for  all,  and  to  afford  all  an  unfettered  start  and  a  fair 
chance  in  the  race  of  life.'  " 

Hesitating  for  a.  moment,  with  a  serious  expression  on 
her  face,  and  speaking  very  slowly,  the  Empress  said:  "  Do 
you  know  that  the  Emperor  and  T.  in  our  time,  were  the 
only  real  socialists  in  France?  '      And  then,  turning  to 


450         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

M.  P ,  who  stood  near  her,  she  said,  ' '  Is  not  this  true  1  ' ' 

And  the  reply  was,  ' '  Yes. ' ' 

As  the  consort  of  the  Emperor,  the  Empress  was  always 
ready  to  espouse  and  defend  his  public  policy,  and,  it  must 
be  admitted,  with  an  ardor  that  sometimes  led  her  to  be 
more  royalist  than  the  King.  But  to  represent  and  give 
distinction  to  the  Imperial  Government  on  its  social  side, 
was  the  chief  object  of  her  life. 

As  Regent  she  was  the  faithful  executor  of  the  will  of 
the  Emperor  and  of  the  policy  of  her  Councilors.  When 
the  catastrophe  came  she  stood  ' '  like  a  soldier  at  his  post. ' ' 

No  two  persons,  in  certain  respects,  could  be  more  unlike 
than  were  the  Emperor  and  the  Empress.  The  Emperor 
would  do  nothing  except  after  long  reflection,  and  kept  his 
opinions  carefully  to  himself.  The  Empress,  on  the  other 
hand,  expressed  herself  on  every  subject  with  absolute  free- 
dom, and  was  inclined  to  act  impulsively.  She  was  aware  of 
this  herself,  and  has  often  been  heard  to  say,  after  talking 
freely — too  freely,  "  Don't  tell  the  Emperor  what  I  have 
said,  for  I  should  get  a  scolding."  Her  sympathies  were 
strong  and  her  temperament  emotional.  The  Emperor 
could  occasionally  be  moved  by  some  new  fact  to  do  what 
he  had  not  proposed  to  do,  but  he  never  permitted  himself 
to  be  carried  away  by  his  feelings,  or  by  the  enthusiasm  of 
others. 

That  the  Empress  resented  with  more  indignation  than 
the  Emperor  himself  the  candidature  of  Prince  Leopold, 
is  doubtless  true ;  and  that,  when  war  was  declared,  she 
was  optimistic,  and  enthusiastic  even,  is  also  true.  Why 
should  she  not  have  been  ?  Was  she  not  a  woman  1  Could 
she  witness  without  emotion  the  immense  wave  of  patriotic 
sentiment  which  then  swept  over  France?  Great  injustice 
has  been  done  the  Empress  by  holding  her  to  blame  for  feel- 
ings which  she  shared  with  every  Frenchman  worthy  of 
the  name. 

The  Empress  had  no  personal  political  ambition.     She 


INTRIGUES    AND    DIPLOMACY  451 

was  only  ambitious  for  her  husband  and  for  her  son.  She 
was  the  very  reverse  of  what  is  called  a  political  woman; 
she  was  too  sincere,  candid,  unreserved,  and  sympathetic 
for  such  a  role.  Her  moral  personality  was  too  distinctly 
and  too  strongly  pronounced  to  permit  her  to  play  a  part 
in  which  dissimulation  and  flexibility  are  the  indispensable 
conditions  of  success.  She  was  in  all  respects  a  most 
womanly  woman — womanly  but  not  weak,  for  her  powers  of 
physical  endurance  and  her  moral  courage  are  alike  remark- 
able— and  was  very  often  so  directed  by  the  impulses  of 
her  heart  as  to  make  light  of  reasons  of  State  even  in  the 
most  serious  circumstances. 

Probably  few  persons  remember  that,  after  the  con- 
demnation of  Orsini  and  the  authors  of  the  massacre  in 
front  of  the  Opera  House,  the  Empress,  touched  with 
pity  for  her  would-be  assassins,  spared  no  effort  to  induce 
the  Emperor  to  pardon  them.  In  fact,  she  appealed  to 
every  one  about  her  to  aid  her,  until  one  day  the  Minister 
of  the  Interior,  having  heard  of  some  new  move  she  had 
made  in  order  to  obtain  a  reprieve,  went  to  her  and  said, 
almost  brutally,  "  Madame,  you  do  not  know  how  much 
annoyance  your  silly  sentimentalism  is  causing  us.  Let 
us  attend  to  our  business,  and  occupy  yourself  with  your 
own  affairs." 

And  this  reminds  me  of  an  incident  related  by  M. 
Granier  de  Cassagnac,  which  is  especially  interesting .  as 
well  as  pertinent  to  our  subject. 

It  will  be  remembered,  perhaps,  that  the  asylum  offered 
by  the  English  Government  to  a  number  of  persons  im- 
plicated in  the  Orsini  affair,  was  so  resented  by  the 
French  people  that  they  were  for  a  time  disposed  to  regard 
it  as  an  unfriendly  act,  and  that  the  Emperor  himself  took 
this  matter  to  heart  very  seriously. 

One  evening,  having  sent  for  M.  de  Cassagnac,  his 
Majesty  said  to  him:  "  I  cannot  tolerate  such  a  violation 
of  the  right  of  asylum,  which  should  assure  the  liberty  of 


452         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

the  individual  and  of  political  opinion;  but  under  the 
cover  of  which  plots  against  the  security  of  neighboring 
countries,  and  projects  for  the  murder  of  sovereigns,  and 
those  sovereigns  allies,  should  not  be  permitted.  I  have 
dictated  to  the  Empress  the  outlines  of  an  article  on  this 
subject,  which  we  must  make  up  and  publish  in  the  form 
of  a  pamphlet." 

As  the  Emperor  handed  the  paper  to  the  narrator  of 
the  incident,  the  Empress  entered  the  room. 

"  Monsieur  de  Cassagnac,"  said  she,  "  if  you  take  that 
memorandum,  it  must  be  on  condition  that  you  return  it 
to  me.  In  the  first  place,  as  it  was  written  hastily  at  the 
Emperor's  dictation,  I  am  not  quite  sure  that  it  is  correctly 
written.  And,  furthermore,  since  I  have  no  constitutional 
right  which  authorizes  me  to  intervene  in  public  affairs, 
I  do  not  wish  to  be  accused,  should  the  paper  be  lost,  of 
having  pushed  the  Emperor  into  the  very  ticklish  path 
he  is  about  to  enter."  And  then,  laughing,  she  added: 
"  Should  you  attach  any  value  to  my  handwriting,  I 
promise  to  give  you  another  autograph,  which  I  will  make 
an  effort  to  write  with  sufficient  correctness  to  defy  your 
criticism." 

Looking  over  the  documents  which  were  then  submitted 
to  him,  M.  de  Cassagnac  remarked:  "  To  say  that  the  right 
of  asylum  was  intended  to  protect  the  opinion  of  refugees, 
and  not  their  crimes,  is  to  maintain  a  doctrine  that  is 
incontestable ;  but  should  the  English  Government  continue 
to  extend,  until  it  includes  assassination,  the  protection 
due  only  to  political  opinion,  the  Government  of  the  Em- 
peror cannot  be  satisfied  with  the  role  of  a  professor  of 
morals,  even  were  he  in  the  right.  The  more  reasonable, 
moderate,  and  legitimate  the  concessions  demanded  by 
France  are,  the  more  necessary  it  is,  it  seems  to  me,  to 
make  it  plain  in  the  pamphlet,  that  in  the  case  of  a  refusal 
we  shall  be  obliged  to  consider  what  measures  should  be 
taken. ' ' 


INTRIGUES    AND    DIPLOMACY  453 

"  Oh,  Monsieur  de  Cassagnac, "  cried  out  the  Empress 
with  vivacity,  "  don't  push  the  Emperor  into  a  war,  I 
beg  of  you!  " 

The  Emperor  said  nothing. 

"  Madame,"  replied  M.  de  Cassagnac,  "  France  should 
be  protected.  To  maintain  its  dignity,  its  security,  the 
future  of  its  institutions,  of  which  the  dynasty  is  a  part, 
is  the  very  first  duty  of  the  Government." 

'  Oh,  no,  no!  "  interrupted  the  Empress;  "  don't  say 
that.  England  was  our  faithful  ally  in  the  East.  A  touch 
of  unreasonableness  has  for  the  moment  led  astray  the  Eng- 
lish mind,  ordinarily  so  just.  Good  sense  and  equity  will 
in  the  end  carry  the  day.  But  don't  push  the  Emperor 
into  a  war!  " 

Only  a  few  months  later  the  Queen  of  England  and 
Prince  Albert,  with  the  Prince  of  Wales,  were  the  guests  of 
the  Emperor  and  the  Empress  in  the  harbor  of  Cherbourg. 
To  the  cordial  welcome  extended  by  the  Emperor  to  his 
royal  visitors,  Prince  Albert  responded: 

:  Your  Majesty  knows  the  sentiments  of  the  Queen 
towards  you  and  the  Empress,  and  I  have  no  occasion  to 
remind  you  of  them.  You  know  also  that  a  good  under- 
standing between  our  two  countries  is  the  constant  object 
of  her  desires,  as  it  is  of  yours.  The  Queen  is  therefore 
doubly  happy  to  have  the  opportunity,  by  her  presence 
here  at  this  time,  of  allying  herself  with  you,  Sire,  in  the 
endeavor  to  strengthen  as  much  as  possible  the  bonds  of 
friendship  between  the  two  nations.  This  friendship  is 
the  foundation  of  their  mutual  prosperity."  ,_ 

No,  the  Empress  was  never  a  political  woman,  but 
always  was,  and  is,  a  very  womanly  woman,  to  whom 
violence,  and  war  especially,  is  most  repugnant. 

That  she  was  not  the  woman  she  has  been  represented 
to  be,  anxious  to  govern,  reactionary  in  her  opinions,  and 
opposed  in  principle  to  the  evolution  of  the  "  liberal  Em- 
pire," but  was,  on  the  contrary,  in  full  sympathy  with 


454         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

the  Emperor  in  all  his  generous  political  ideas  and  aspira- 
tions, and,  above  and  beyond  all  the  rest,  a  devoted  wife 
and  mother,  there  is  abundant  evidence. 

On  the  23d  of  October,  1869,  at  the  time  when,  on  ac- 
count of  the  violence  of  the  irreconcilable  Opposition,  the 
question  had  been  raised  of  abandoning  the  liberal  Empire 
and  returning  to  the  regime  of  "  personal  government," 
the  Empress  wrote  to  the  Emperor  from  Cairo,  Egypt  as 
follows : 

"lam  greatly  preoccupied  by  the  turn  public  opinion 
has  taken  with  you.  God  grant  that  everything  may  go 
on  tranquilly  and  wisely,  without  folly  on  the  one  side  or 
a  jerk  on  the  other,  and  that  order  may  be  maintained 
without  the  use  of  force;  for  the  day  after  the  victory  is 
often  difficult — more  difficult  than  the  day  before  it. "  * 
And  again,  in  a  remarkable  letter  written  on  the  Nile,  four 
days  later,  in  reply  to  a  despatch  from  the  Emperor  an- 
nouncing that  the  Opposition  had  abandoned  the  project 
of  making  a  great  public  demonstration  in  Paris  on  October 
26th,  she  says : 

' '  I  was  greatly  troubled  about  the  doings  of  yesterday, 
and  to  know  that  you  were  in  Paris  without  me;  but 
everything  passed  off  well,  as  I  see  by  your  despatch. 
.  .  .  I  think,  in  spite  of  all,  you  should  not  be  dis- 
couraged, but  should  go  forward  in  the  way  you  have  in- 
augurated. It  is  well  to  keep  faith  with  respect  to  the 
concessions  granted;  this  every  one  believes  and  admits. 
I  hope,  then,  that  your  speech  will  be  in  this  sense.  The 
more  need  there  may  be  of  force  later  on,  the  more  nec- 
essary it  is  to  prove  to  the  country  that  these  are  ideas, 
and  not  expedients.  I  am  far  away,  and  quite  too  igno- 
rant of  what  has  happened  since  my  departure  to  speak 
in  this  way;  but  I  am  thoroughly  convinced  that  the 
orderly  progress  of  ideas  is  the  veritable  force.  I  do  not 
like  sudden  movements,  and  I  am  persuaded  that  a  coup 

*  "  Papiers  et  Correspondance  de  la  Famille  Imperiale." 


INTRIGUES   AND   DIPLOMACY  455 

d'Etat  cannot  be  made  twice  in  the  same  reign.  I  am 
talking  at  random,  and  preaching  to  a  convert  who  knows 
a  great  deal  more  about  the  subject  than  I  do.  But  I 
must  say  something,  were  it  only  to  prove  what  you  know, 
that  my  heart  is  with  you  both,  and  that  if,  when  every- 
thing about  me  is  quiet,  my  vagabond  spirit  loves  to  roam 
about  in  space,  it  is  close  by  you  both  that  I  love  to  be  in 
times  of  disquietude  and  anxiety.  ...  I  have  no  wish 
to  remember  anything  in  my  life  that  may  have  blighted 
the  bright  colors  of  my  illusions,  .  .  .  but  I  live  again 
in  my  son,  and  I  feel  that  my  real  joys  are  to  be  those  which 
shall  come  to  my  own  heart  only  after  they  have  passed 
through  his  heart. ' '  * 

If  the  Empress  ever  declared  herself  in  favor  of  the 
Franco-German  War,  it  was  not  from  political  considera- 
tions, but  for  sentimental  reasons,  and  a  natural  fondness 
for  heroic  solutions.  She  was  at  this  time  free  from  politi- 
cal responsibilities;  when  these  came,  she  knew  how  to  act 
with  a  prudence  and  a  dignity  as  remarkable,  perhaps, 
as  it  may  have  been  unexpected  by  those  who  were  not 
aware  of  the  excellent  good  sense,  the  instinctive  savoir 
faire  that  lay  concealed  beneath  those  superficial  and  more 
brilliant  qualities  for  which  she  had  long  been  so  con- 
spicuous and  so  famous. 

But  in  July,  1870,  her  Majesty's  opinions,  whatever 
they  may  have  been  or  might  have  been  with  respect  to 
the  necessity  or  the  expediency  of  a  war  with  Prussia,  could 
have  had  but  very  little  weight  after  Bismarck  had  auda- 
ciously in  the  name  of  his  King,  "  slapped  the  cheek  of 
France  " — after  this  calculated  insult  to  the  Imperial  Gov- 
ernment and  the  French  people. 

The  absurdity  of  attributing  to  the  Empress  a  desire 

to  perpetuate  her  Regency  must  be  evident  to  every  one 

familiar  with  the  facts  related  in  this  chapter.     And  that 

such  a  desire  would  have  been  an  unnatural  one,  is  made 

*  "  Papiers  et  Correspondanee  de  la  Famille  Imp£riale." 


456         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

sufficiently  clear  by  the  whole  tenor  of  her  life  during  the 
past  twenty-five  years.  Not  only  has  she  persistently  re- 
fused to  assume  any  sort  of  leadership  in  contemporary 
French  politics,  but,  conscious  of  the  rectitude  of  her 
official  conduct,  whether  as  consort  of  the  Emperor  or  as 
Regent,  has  declined  even  to  attempt  to  justify  herself 
before  the  world. 

It  is  only  a  few  weeks  since  that,  having  read  certain 
passages  in  the  "  Memoirs  "  of  the  late  General  Trochu, 
recently  published,  derogatory  to  the  Emperor  and  the 
Empress,  I  sent  a  letter  to  the  Gaulois  and  a  number  of 
the  Paris  journals,  in  which  I  corrected  the  statements 
made  by  General  Trochu  with  respect  to  two  or  three 
matters  that  came  within  my  own  knowledge.  On  my 
sending  to  her  Majesty  a  copy  of  this  communication  to 
the  Paris  press,  with  a  letter  explaining  the  circumstances 
of  the  case  and  the  motives  that  had  led  me  to  write  it, 
I  received  from  her  the  following  answer: 

"  Farnborough  Hill,  Farnborough  Hants, 
"  October  22,  1896. 

' '  My  dear  Doctor  : 

"  I  am  profoundly  touched  by  your  letter.  I  know 
what  your  sentiments  are,  and  what  they  always  have  been, 
towards  my  family. 

"  I  appreciate  the  motives  that  have  caused  you  to  act 
— detaching,  as  you  say,  an  extract  from  your  '  Memoirs  ' 
— in  the  matter  of  the  noise  that  is  being  made  to-day  over 
the  name  of  General  Trochu. 

"  You  will  understand  also,  I  hope,  that  I  am  quite  re- 
solved to  reply  to  nothing,  and  to  contradict  nothing, 
however  painful  it  may  be  to  me.  A  war  of  recrimination 
and  justification  is  repugnant  to  me.  I  have  faith  to  be- 
lieve that  to  the  Emperor  first,  and  to  me,  perhaps  (?), 
Time  will  do  justice. 

' '  Believe,  dear  Doctor,  in  my  very  kind  sentiments, 

"  Eugenie." 


INTRIGUES   AND   DIPLOMACY  457 

How  pathetic  that  interrogation  ' '  perhaps  (?)  " ! 

Poor  Empress!  Yes,  Time  will  do  you  justice.  You 
have  happily  already  lived  to  see  that  your  heroism,  your 
self-sacrifice,  your  sorrows,  have  secured  to  you  the  admira- 
tion and  sympathy  of  the  world — the  world  that  will  soon 
forget  your  enemies  and  all  their  works,  and  remember  you 
for  centuries  to  come  as  one  of  the  most  beautiful  and 
sympathetic  figures  that  have  sat  upon  a  throne,  as  one 
whose  story  is  the  sum  of  all  the  romance  and  tragedy  of 
a  woman's  life. 

And  the  Emperor — whose  favorite  saying  it  was  that 
everything  will  come  to  him  who  knows  how  to  wait — 
Time  will  do,  is  now  doing,  him  justice  also. 

' '  Though  the  mills  of  God  grind  slowly,  yet  they  grind 
exceeding  small." 


CHAPTER  XVII 

THE  END  OF  THE  WAR — THE  COMMUNE 

I  return  to  France — The  suffering  among  the  French  prisoners — The 
Clothing  Society — I  engage  in  relief  work — Hostes  dum  vulnerati 
jratres — The  fellow-feeling  produced  by  suffering  shared  in  common 
— The  end  of  the  war — A  National  Assembly — The  humiliating 
peace — The  Emperor  arrives  in  England — The  Sedan  of  the  Gov- 
ernment of  the  National  Defense — Mrs.  Evans  and  I  visit  the 
Emperor  and  Empress  at  Camden  Place — The  admirable  resigna- 
tion of  the  Emperor — His  interest  in  the  education  of  the  Prince 
Imperial — Mrs.  Evans  and  I  return  to  Paris — The  aspect  of  the 
city. 

jEEING  that,  for  the  moment,  I  could  not  be 
directly  of  any  service  to  her  Majesty,  and  at 
_J$$  the  same  time  recognizing  that  the  war,  in  all 
^^^^  probability,  would  continue  for  several  months 
at  least,  I  decided  to  return  to  France  in  order  to  go  on 
with  the  Ambulance  work,  which  I  had  been  compelled 
to  leave  so  unexpectedly  and  suddenly. 

Knowing  that  there  would  be  a  want  of  medical  stores 
and  surgical  instruments  and  apparatus  in  the  French 
hospitals  and  camps,  I  bought  in  London  a  supply  of  the 
things  I  thought  most  necessary,  and  made  preparations 
to  take  them  with  me  to  Metz. 

To  return  to  Paris,  as  I  should  have  preferred  to  do, 
was  out  of  the  question.  It  was  not  likely  that  I  would 
be  permitted  to  pass  through  the  German  lines  then  in- 
vesting the  city;  and  besides,  were  I  allowed  to  enter  it, 
my  usefulness  might  be  greatly  hampered  on  account  of 
the  assistance  which  I  had  rendered  to  the  Empress;  for, 
during  the  period  immediately  following  upon  the  fall  of 
458 


THE    END    OF    THE    WAR  459 

the  Empire,  party  feeling  was  strong,  and  the  hatred  of  the 
Republicans  against  all  persons  who  had  proved  to  be 
friends  of  the  Napoleonic  family  was  implacable.  More- 
over, I  knew  that  under  Dr.  Crane's  supervision  the 
American  Ambulance  was  in  good  hands.  I  came  to  the 
conclusion,  therefore,  to  look  after  the  armies  which  were 
still  in  the  field,  and  it  seemed  to  me  that  I  could  be  more 
useful  in  Metz  than  anywhere  else. 

In  order  to  have  no  difficulty  in  passing  through  the 
lines  of  the  German  troops,  I  provided  myself  with  letters 
of  introduction  and  credentials  from  the  highest  German 
civil  and  military  authorities;  and  although,  in  a  few  in- 
stances, obstacles  were  met  with,  I  reached  the  French 
outposts  safely. 

On  arriving  at  Metz,  I  asked  permission  to  enter  the 
city,  stating  the  purpose,  and  addressing  my  request  in 
the  regular  way  to  the  head-quarters;  but,  to  my  great 
disappointment,  my  request  was  not  granted. 

Nevertheless  this  rebuff  did  not  discourage  me.  I 
found  in  the  neighborhood  of  Metz,  and  afterward  at 
Sedan,  several  hospitals  where  my  medical  stores  were 
greatly  needed  and  highly  appreciated.  But  the  fright- 
ful scenes  I  witnessed  during  this  my  second  visit  to  the 
Continent  moved  me  greatly,  and  I  decided,  until  I  should 
be  able  to  return  to  my  home  in  Paris,  to  devote  all  my 
efforts  to  ameliorating  the  condition  of  those  Frenchmen 
who  were  prisoners  in  the  enemy's  country;  some  of  whom 
were  suffering  from  their  wounds  or  from  diseases,  and 
others  from  want,  resulting  from  causes  I  had  scarcely 
thought  of,  and  most  of  whom  were  without  sufficient 
clothing  of  a  kind  adapted  for  winter  use. 

I  therefore  at  once  returned  to  London,  and  addressed 
myself  to  several  influential  persons,  to  whom  I  related 
my  experiences  and  whose  cooperation  I  solicited.  I  told 
them  how  much  I  had  been  struck  by  the  misery  and 
distress  I  had  seen  everywhere  among  the  prisoners  who 


460 


THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 


were  not  upon  the  sick  lists,  which  resulted  from  the  want 
of  nearly  everything,  and  especially  from  the  need  of 
warm  clothing;  and  I  expressed  my  opinion  that,  as  the 
weather  was  already  extremely  severe,  should  the  winter 
prove  a  hard  one,  thousands  of  them  would  succumb  to 
their  fate,  unless  effective  measures  of  relief  were  promptly 
taken. 

To  my  great  delight,  my  words  found  willing  ears,  and 
I  was  enabled  to  create,  with  the  help  of  Messrs.  Michael 
Biddulph,  Thomas  Hankey,  W.  K.  Gladstone,  and  Leopold 
de  Rothschild,  the  so-called  "  Clothing  Society,"  which, 
as  has  been  acknowledged  by  the  French  Government,  and 
also  by  the  German  authorities,  rendered  a  great  deal  of 
assistance  to  the  prisoners  of  war  in  the  camps  established 
in  1870-71  near  Cologne,  Mayence,  Coblenz,  and  other 
German  cities. 

During  nearly  the  whole  winter  I  was  occupied  visit- 
ing these  camps,  and  I  crossed  the  English  Channel  several 
times  to  take  to  Germany  or  to  Switzerland  the  gifts  in 
kind  or  in  money  which  had  been  collected  in  England  by 
our  society,  distributing  them  either  personally  among  the 
prisoners,  or  delivering  them  to  trustworthy  persons  who 
had  offered  me  their  assistance. 

My  first  trip  to  the  Continent  for  this  purpose  was 
made  in  January,  1871.  I  left  London  on  the  18th  of  that 
month,  and  arriving  on  the  20th  at  Lille,  called  upon  the 
Count  de  Meulan,  the  president  of  a  local  Relief  Society. 
This  society  was  in  direct  relations  with  another  society, 
that  of  the  Chevaliers  de  Malte,  which  was  under  the 
presidency  of  Baron  Schonlein,  at  Cologne,  and  which  had 
received  permission  to  forward  goods  coming  from  Eng- 
land, through  France,  free  of  duty  and  at  small  expense 
of  carriage,  and  through  Belgium  at  about  half  the  ordi- 
nary charge.  M.  Longhaye,  vice-president  of  the  Lille 
Society,  promised  me  all  the  aid  in  his  power,  and  sub- 
sequently rendered  me  considerable  assistance. 


THE    END    OF    THE    WAR  461 

I  proceeded  to  Brussels  on  the  21st,  in  order  to  arrange 
for  the  transportation  of  supplies  through  Belgium.  The 
King  himself,  when  I  saw  him  during  my  previous  trip, 
and  told  him  of  my  plans  regarding  the  prisoners,  had 
graciously  offered  me  all  the  assistance  which  he  should  be 
able  to  render  me  in  my  undertaking;  and,  inasmuch  as 
there  existed  also  in  the  Belgian  capital  an  International 
Society  which  was  doing  work  for  the  relief  of  the 
prisoners  of  war,  it  seemed  to  me  advisable  to  work  in 
cooperation  with  it. 

Finding  that,  by  this  arrangement,  an  additional  num- 
ber of  camps  could  be  looked  after,  and  that  many  of  the 
old  prisoners  were  being  removed  to  other  camps,  I  de- 
cided to  dispose  of  the  clothing  I  had  brought  with  me 
in  favor  of  the  large  number  of  new  prisoners  who  were 
daily  arriving  at  Cologne,  Coblenz,  and  Mayence,  and  to 
supply  them  also  with  such  sums  of  money  as  were  most 
urgently  required  to  meet  their  immediate  wants. 

The  Belgian  society  having  agreed  to  supply  a  quantity 
of  wooden  shoes  to  these  new  prisoners,  my  attention,  on 
going  to  Cologne,  was  first  devoted  to  the  distribution  among 
them  of  warm  underclothing.  I  accordingly  gave  away 
there,  in  the  name  of  our  London  Society,  both  personally 
and  through  the  kind  offices  of  the  Chevaliers  de  Malte, 
a  large  quantity  of  drawers,  stockings,  slippers,  and  flan- 
nel belts,  together  with  one  thousand  woolen  shirts,  costing 
one  thaler  (three  shillings)  each.  I  gave,  moreover,  to 
Colonel  du  Paty  de  Clam,  of  the  Second  Dragoons,  who 
was  indicated  to  me,  both  by  his  fellow-officers  and  the 
German  military  authorities,  as  possessing  their  entire 
confidence,  the  sum  of  two  thousand  francs,  for  the 
relief  of  the  most  necessitous  and  impecunious  of  the 
non-commissioned  officers;  and  I  promised  him  a  further 
sum  to  be  divided  among  them,  should  he  think  it  neces- 
sary. 

I  also  found  at  Cologne  a  ladies'  society  which  had 
31 


462         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

been  organized  by  officers'  wives,  and  which  worked  in  a 
very  praiseworthy  manner.  I  therefore  handed  to  the 
president,  Madame  Masson,  the  sum  of  one  thousand 
francs,  in  order  to  assist  her  society  in  the  purchase  of 
woolen  socks,  drawers,  and  flannel  belts  for  the  convales- 
cent prisoners  from  the  hospitals. 

Another  sum  of  money  was  handed  over  for  distribution 
to  Baron  Edward  Oppenheim,  who  at  his  own  expense,  and 
with  the  aid  of  subscriptions,  was  trying  to  relieve  the 
wants  of  the  prisoners. 

Before  leaving  Cologne,  the  Abbe  Strumpf,  a  gentle- 
man who  spent  all  his  time  visiting  the  camps  for  the 
purpose  of  ascertaining  the  requirements  of  the  prisoners, 
informed  me  that  at  Torgau,  Saxony,  the  camp  was  ex- 
tremely unhealthy,  owing  to  the  swampy  character  of  the 
ground,  and  that  wooden  sabots  were  urgently  needed 
there.  I  accordingly  gave  him  money  sufficient  to  pur- 
chase two  thousand  pairs. 

On  arriving  at  Coblenz,  on  January  25th,  I  presented 
my  letters  of  introduction  to  General  von  Wedel,  includ- 
ing one  from  the  commanding  officer  at  Cologne.  He  re- 
ceived me  with  much  kindness,  which  I  was  told  was 
characteristic  of  him ;  for  he  was  so  beloved  by  the  French 
soldiers  who  knew  him  that  they  called  him  le  pere  des 
prisonniers.  He  at  once  accorded  me  permission  to  visit 
the  two  camps  established  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  city ; 
and  Major  Lainstow,  the  officer  in  charge  of  Camp  No.  2, 
also  a  man  of  kindly  and  benevolent  impulses,  whose  hu- 
manity toward  the  prisoners  had  won  for  him  their  confi- 
dence and  regard,  afforded  me  every  facility  for  carrying 
out  the  object  of  my  visit.  I  myself  distributed  about  two 
thousand  pairs  of  woolen  stockings  to  the  prisoners  in  the 
two  camps.  For  the  relief  of  the  soldiers  and  officers  in- 
terned in  the  city  of  Coblenz  itself,  I  left  with  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Archer  Burton,  English  residents  of  that  city — to  whose 
active  exertions  these  prisoners  owed  the  alleviation  of  much 


THE    END    OF    THE    WAR  463 

of  their  suffering — twelve  large  boxes  of  second-hand  cloth- 
ing which  I  had  brought  with  me  from  London. 

In  a  similar  manner  I  occupied  my  time  for  nearly  a 
month,  distributing  money  and  articles  of  clothing  in  the 
prison  camps  and  hospitals  at  Mayence,  Wiesbaden,  Ras- 
tadt,  Frankfort,  Stuttgart,  Carlsruhe,  in  fact  all  over  Ger- 
many, to  aid  and  comfort  the  poor  French  soldiers  who  had 
been  taken  captive  during  the  war. 

None  except  those  who  saw  with  their  own  eyes  these 
men  in  the  camps  and  lazarettos  of  Germany  can  have  any 
adequate  idea  of  the  hardships  and  sufferings  they  endured, 
to  the  very  end  of  that  terrible  winter  of  1870-71.  And 
all  the  while  their  ranks  were  literally  decimated  by  disease ; 
for  it  has  been  estimated  that  more  than  20,000  of  the  in- 
mates of  these  establishments  perished  by  diseases  brought 
on,  principally,  by  exposure  to  the  inclemency  of  the 
weather.  The  great  want  of  suitable  clothing  among  them 
was  caused  by  the  fact  that  they  were  hastily  called  into  the 
field  in  July,  were  captured  a  few  weeks  later,  in  midsum- 
mer, and  that  six  months  or  more  had  passed  with  no  chance 
to  obtain  winter  overcoats  and  blankets,  or  to  renew  in  a 
regular  way  any  of  their  supplies  of  clothing.  But  what- 
ever the  cause,  or  however  unavoidable  under  the  circum- 
stances, it  made  no  less  sad  and  no  less  pitiable  the  condi- 
tion of  these  barefooted,  bareheaded,  and  ragged  remnants 
of  the  military  power  of  the  Empire.  To  their  physical 
suffering  was  also  added  the  demoralization  which  came 
from  defeat.  They  neither  knew  the  extent  of  their  own 
misfortunes,  nor  how  great  were  those  which  had  befallen 
their  country.  They  were  unable  even  to  communicate 
with  their  families  at  home,  for  they  had  no  money  with 
which  to  pay  the  postage  on  a  letter. 

A  German  gentleman,  who  was  greatly  interested  in 
the  unhappy  lot  of  these  prisoners,  wrote  to  me  from 
Dresden,  saying :  ' '  Out  of  three  hundred  French  prisoners 
in  our  camps,  two  hundred  have  not  a  penny.     They  can- 


464         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

not  pay  the  postage  on  their  letters,  so  that  even  the  letters 
which  they  receive  have  very  often  to  be  sent  back  ";  and 
he  begged  me  to  "  come  to  the  relief  of  these  poor  people." 
"  If,"  said  he,  "  we  could  only  give  them,  on  entering  into 
the  hospital,  a  sixpence  apiece !  Please  authorize  Mr.  Irish 
(the  American  Consul  at  Dresden)  to  put  a  thousand  francs 
in  our  hands." 

I  may  add  that  this  same  gentleman  wrote  to  me  to 
say:  "  Our  dear,  highly  beloved  Crown-Princess  [after- 
ward the  Empress  Frederick]  told  me  that  she  was  very 
sorry  not  to  have  seen  you  when  you  called,  and  was  much 
pleased  to  hear  of  the  two  thousand  francs  which  you 
gave  to  us  to  be  disbursed  for  the  purchase  of  necessary 
clothing  for  the  sick  and  wounded  French  prisoners  now 
in  the  hospitals  at  Dresden." 

That  many  ladies — French  ladies — should  have  come 
to  the  assistance  of  the  multitude  of  French  soldiers,  sick, 
destitute,  and  prisoners  of  war,  is  not  remarkable.  A 
number  of  them  worked  nobly  and  were  unremitting  in 
their  efforts  to  relieve  and  comfort  their  unfortunate  and 
unhappy  compatriots.  Among  them  I  wish  particularly 
to  mention  Madame  MacMahon,  the  wife  of  Marshal  Mac- 
Mahon,  whom  I  met  at  Mayence,  and  Madame  Canrobert, 
the  wife  of  Marshal  Canrobert,  whom  I  saw  at  Stuttgart, 
and  who  was  as  energetic  as  she  was  philanthropic.  Ma- 
dame Canrobert  undertook  to  purchase  for  me,  and  to  dis- 
tribute personally  among  the  convalescents  leaving  the 
Stuttgart  hospitals,  several  thousand  francs'  worth  of 
clothing  and  other  articles.  The  Countess  de  Gramont 
at  Munich  was  also  indefatigable  in  her  efforts  to  aid  and 
assist  the  convalescents  coming  from  the  hospitals. 

But  many  German  ladies  were  no  less  considerate  and 
charitably  disposed  towards  the  poor  French  soldiers  who 
lay  wounded  and  sick  in  the  hospitals.  Hostes  dum  vul- 
nerati  fratres  was  a  motto  which  expressed  not  only  the 
sentiment  that  guided  the  conduct  of  the  Crown-Princess 


i 


THE    END    OF    THE    WAR  465 

of  Germany  in  her  efforts  to  aid  and  succor  these  unhappy 
victims  of  war,  but  that  of  the  Empress  Augusta  as  well, 
who,  when  Queen  of  Prussia,  established  in  all  parts  of 
the  kingdom  International  Red  Cross  societies,  to  which, 
during  the  Franco-German  War,  she  continued  to  give  the 
most  generous  support.  The  Grand-Duchess  of  Baden  took 
a  special  interest  in  the  military  hospital  at  Carlsruhe; 
and,  on  my  making  certain  suggestions  by  way  of  improv- 
ing the  situation  of  a  number  of  prisoners,  she  promised 
me  that  the  matter  should  be  promptly  attended  to.  In 
fact,  the  French  officers  interned  in  Carlsruhe  were  well 
cared  for,  and  were  most  hospitably  treated  by  the  citizens. 

I  should  regret  to  have  conveyed  the  impression,  in 
these  reminiscences  of  my  experience  among  the  prison 
camps  in  Germany  during  the  winter  of  1870-71,  that  the 
German  Government  failed  to  do  all  it  could  reasonably 
be  expected  to  do  in  behalf  of  the  French  prisoners.  When 
it  is  remembered  that  the  transport  service  and  supply  de- 
partments of  Germany  had  to  provide  for  more  than  400,000 
captives — a  larger  number  than  were  ever  before  taken  by  a 
victorious  army — it  should  cause  no  surprise  to  hear  that 
the  Germans  were  for  a  time  unequal  to  the  task  of  properly 
taking  care  of  the  hordes  of  prisoners  on  their  hands.  The 
prisoners  were  generally  fairly  well  housed  ;  the  rations  fur- 
nished were  both  good  in  quality  and  sufficient  in  quantity ; 
and  the  soldiers,  and  especially  the  officers,  enjoyed  a  large 
amount  of  liberty.  In  every  respect  they  were  consider- 
ately treated  by  the  officers  in  charge  of  the  camps;  and  I 
was  particularly  touched  on  observing  that  even  a  larger 
share  of  military  honors  was  accorded  by  the  German  au- 
thorities to  the  deceased  French  privates  than  would  have 
been  rendered  them  in  their  own  country. 

The  causes  for  the  suffering  which  prevailed  in  these 
prison  camps  I  have  already  stated ;  but  I  should  also 
state  that,  after  a  few  weeks,  the  general  condition  of  the 
prisoners  was  greatly  improved  by  the  distribution  among 


466         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

them  of  immense  quantities  of  clothing  and  supplies  of  all 
kinds  which  were  furnished  by  a  great  number  of  relief 
societies  that  came  into  existence,  immediately  they  were 
needed,  all  over  Europe,  and  the  United  States  also. 

During  my  tours  through  Germany,  while  engaged  in 
this  relief  work,  I  saw  many  things  which  were  well  worth 
noticing,  and  were  of  more  than  a  passing  interest,  as  they 
threw  light  upon  human  character  in  general,  and  taught 
lessons  that  may  seem  singular  to  those  who  have  not 
themselves  personally  observed  and  studied  the  conditions 
and  the  consequences  resulting  from  actual  warfare. 

One  might  expect  that  the  life  of  a  soldier  and  the  con- 
tinual sight  of  suffering  would  make  his  heart  cold  and 
indifferent,  and  brutalize  his  feeling ;  and  most  people  natu- 
rally believe — when  death  threatens  every  one — when  a 
man  is  surrounded  on  all  sides  by  danger,  that  he  becomes 
supremely  selfish  and  cares  very  little  even  for  his  friends. 

This,  however,  is  not  so  always.  On  the  contrary,  I 
could  mention  many  cases  in  which  the  soldiers  whom  I  met 
in  the  hospitals  or  prisons  showed  the  greatest  kindness 
and  sympathy  for  their  companions. 

I  was  often  told  by  one  of  those  men,  when  I  offered  him 
assistance,  that  he  was  not  so  much  in  want  as  one  of  his 
comrades;  and  more  than  once,  some  of  the  French  pris- 
oners refused  to  accept  a  shirt  or  a  pair  of  shoes,  even  when 
they  were  suffering  for  the  want  of  them,  and  pointed  out 
to  me  others  among  their  number  who  needed  these  articles 
far  more  than  they  did.  The  feeling  that  prompted  these 
generous  acts  was  something  quite  different  from  the  ami- 
able spirit  of  comaraderie  which  is  developed  by  association 
alone.  It  seemed  rather  to  be  the  result  of  a  moral  evolu- 
tion, determined  by  the  environment,  that  ended  in  the 
transformation  of  an  original  racial  instinct  into  a  fine 
sentiment  of  humanity — into  that  caritas  generis  humani 
which  has  redeemed  the  world  and  glorified  it. 

In  peace,  the  inequality  of  conditions  among  men,  and 


THE    END    OF    THE    WAR  467 

the  great  difference  in  the  fortunes  allotted  to  individuals, 
create,  on  the  one  side,  envy,  and,  on  the  other  side,  dis- 
dain and  a  sense  of  superiority.  Many  of  those  who  are  in 
the  enjoyment  of  all  the  comforts  and  luxuries  of  life  can- 
not imagine  that  they  can  ever  he  placed  in  a  condition 
similar  to  that  of  their  less  favored  neighbors ;  for  in  times 
of  peace  sudden  changes  seldom  occur,  and  the  rich  rarely 
have  a  chance  to  learn  the  lessons  which  misfortune  teaches. 
Many  of  them  therefore  persuade  themselves  that  those 
who  are  not  as  well-conditioned  as  they  are,  owe  it  to  the 
simple  reason  that  they  are  not  worthy  of  a  better  for- 
tune, and  they  learn  on  this  account  to  ignore  and 
despise  them. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  poor,  or  those  who  are  in  a  de- 
pendent position,  imagine  that  they  have  been  disinherited 
by  fate ;  they  know  only  their  own  sorrows  and  sufferings, 
and  never  can  believe  that  the  rich  and  the  educated,  and 
those  who  stand  in  high  places  and  hold  great  offices,  have 
also  their  troubles  and  hours  of  wretchedness.  Deceived 
by  the  glittering  outside  of  a  life  unknown  to  them  and 
which  they  cannot  understand,  their  hearts  often  become 
filled  with  envy  and  hatred. 

In  times  of  war  the  order  and  relative  importance  of 
things  changes.  Conditions  are  equalized;  and  the  same 
hopes,  and  fears,  and  joys,  and  sorrows  are  felt  and  enter- 
tained by  all.  Every  one  knows  that  what  has  happened 
to  his  companion  to-day  may  happen  to  himself  to-morrow, 
and  he  treats  his  neighbor  as  he  himself  would  like  to  be 
treated  under  the  same  circumstances. 

It  is  when  confronted  by  common  dangers  and  suffer- 
ing that  men  are  most  inclined  to  remember  and  to  practise 
the  golden  rule.  War  is  terrible;  war  is  a  prodigious  lev- 
eler ;  but  in  its  destructive  course  it  sweeps  aside  the  vani- 
ties of  life,  and  very  often  among  the  ruins  some  of  the 
fairest  and  sweetest  flowers  that  grow  in  the  garden  of  the 
Lord  spring  up  and  bloom. 


468         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

While  I  was  engaged  as  above  described,  the  spring  ar- 
rived, and  with  it  the  Franco-German  War  came  to  a  close. 
The  French  armies  had  been  defeated  everywhere  in  the 
open  field  and,  although  Paris  for  a  time  still  held  out,  le 
Gouvernement  de  la  Defense  Nationale  saw  that  it  would 
be  in  vain  to  resist  the  besiegers  any  longer. 

After  M.  Jules  Favre 's  unsuccessful  attempt  to  treat 
with  Count  Bismarck  at  Ferrieres,  which  our  readers  will 
remember,  and  after  the  equally  unsuccessful  endeavors  to 
induce  foreign  Powers  to  intervene  in  behalf  of  France,  of 
which  we  have  also  spoken,  Trochu  and  Favre,  and  their 
associates,  announced  that  the  Government  would  rely  upon 
itself  for  salvation ;  and  all  the  bombastic  proclamations  sub- 
sequently issued  by  them  only  reechoed  their  resolve  to  die 
or  to  conquer,  and  not  to  grant  to  the  enemy  a  single  stone 
of  the  fortresses  or  a  single  inch  of  French  soil — "  pas  une 
pierre  de  nos  forter esses;  pas  un  pouce  de  notre  territoire." 
The  more  events  progressed,  however,  the  more  evident  it 
became  to  every  one  that  this  mock-heroic  decision  would 
have  to  be  modified.  The  flaming  spirit — "  the  furious 
fool,"  according  to  M.  Thiers — of  the  Republican  Govern- 
ment was  Leon  Gambetta,  who,  on  October  6,  1870,  left 
Paris  in  a  balloon,  and  descended  at  Tours,  where  he  estab- 
lished a  branch  of  the  Government,  and  soon  assumed  the 
functions,  if  not  the  title,  of  a  Dictator.  However  patriotic 
the  intentions  of  this  gentleman  may  have  been,  his  efforts 
proved  fruitless,  notwithstanding  his  great  ability  and  his 
prodigious  activity.  Armies  were  improvised — six  hundred 
thousand  men  were  under  arms  in  less  than  four  months — 
but,  composed  for  the  most  part  of  raw  and  undisciplined 
levies,  poorly  equipped  and  badly  officered,  they  were  unable 
to  come  to  the  relief  of  the  besieged  capital.  "  If,"  said 
Bismarck  to  Jules  Favre,  ' '  to  arm  a  citizen  were  all  it  was 
necessary  to  do  to  make  a  soldier  of  him,  it  would  be  an 
imposition  to  devote  a  large  part  of  the  public  wealth  to  the 
maintenance  of  standing  armies.     It  is  these  that  give  the 


THE    END   OF   THE   WAR  469 

superiority  in  war — and  you  were  beaten  because  you  did 
not  know  it. ' '  Moreover,  no  intelligent  or  intelligible  plan 
of  military  cooperation  would  ever  seem  to  have  been  agreed 
upon  between  the  Government  in  Paris  and  the  Govern- 
ment at  Tours;  and  their  effective  action,  whether  for  war 
or  peace,  was  still  further  paralyzed  by  personal  jealousies 
and  political  divergencies.  That  the  Government  of  the 
4th  of  September  should  have  premitted  itself  to  be  shut 
up  in  Paris,  only  shows  how  absolutely  incompetent  it  was 
to  take  the  first  sensible  step  towards  safety.  In  commit- 
ting this  folly,  it  threw  away  the  only  chance  it  had  of  com- 
municating with  the  world,  deliberately  cut  itself  loose  from 
France,  and  put  in  imminent  peril  its  own  existence;  for, 
in  the  meantime,  the  example  set  by  the  members  of  the 
Government,  on  September  4th,  was  imitated  by  the  Rad- 
icals and  Socialists  of  the  French  capital. 

On  October  31,  1870,  the  inhabitants  of  those  quarters 
of  Paris  where  chiefly  the  working  class  lives,  tried,  under 
the  leadership  of  Delescluze,  Blanqui,  Pyat,  and  Flourens, 
to  establish  a  government  of  the  Commune.  This  attempt, 
however,  proved  unsuccessful. 

But  another  attempt  of  a  similar  kind  was  made  on 
January  22,  1871,  and  the  Government  did  not  prove,  this 
time,  powerful  enough  to  crush  the  insurrection  entirely, 
and  the  spirit  of  dissension  and  revolt  among  the  inhab- 
itants of  Paris  grew  more  and  more  violent  and  dan- 
gerous. 

On  the  28th  of  January  an  armistice  was  obtained  from 
the  Germans,  in  order  to  enable  the  French  people  to  elect 
delegates  for  a  National  Assembly,  whose  sole  mission  it  was 
to  decide  whether  the  war  should  be  continued,  or  on  what 
terms  peace  should  be  made.* 


*  Convention,  Art.  2:  "  L'armistice  ainsi  convenu  a  pour  but  de 
permettre  au  Gouvernement  de  la  defense  nationale  de  convoquer  une 
Assemblee  librement  61ue  qui  prononeera  sur  la  question  de  savoir: 


470         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

On  February  13th  the  seven  hundred  and  fifty  repre- 
sentatives of  the  people  elected  to  the  National  Assembly  of 
France  met  for  the  first  time  in  Bordeaux,  and  chose  for 
their  President  M.  Grevy.  Whereupon  the  members  of  the 
Government  of  the  National  Defense  resigned  their  offices, 

si  la  guerre  doit  etre  continuee,  ou  a,  quelles  conditions  la  paix  doit 
etre  faite. — L'Assemblee  se  reunira  dans  la  ville  de  Bordeaux." 

The  article  here  cited  gives,  however,  only  a  partial  and  very  im- 
perfect idea  of  the  real  facts  in  the  case.  The  armistice  was  granted  by 
Prince  Bismarck  solely  on  certain  conditions  set  forth  in  the  body  of  the 
"convention"  and  which  Favre  accepted,  viz:  (1)  All  the  forts  around 
Paris  together  with  all  the  war  materiel  in  them  were  to  be  delivered  up 
immediately  to  the  German  army;  (2)  the  interior  defenses  were  to  be 
dismantled;  (3)  all  the  troops  of  the  line,  the  marines,  and  the  Garde 
Mobile,  over  250,000  men,  were  to  be  made  prisoners  of  war,  and  were  to 
surrender  their  arms;  but — at  the  request  of  Favre — the  National 
Guards  of  Paris  were  to  keep  their  arms;  and  within  fifteen  days  the  city 
of  Paris  was  to  pay  200,000,000  francs  as  a  special  war  contribution. 

That  is  to  say,  the  Government  of  the  National  Defense  made  a 
complete  and  absolute  surrender  of  everything,  at  the  time,  in  its  power 
to  surrender;  and  having  deliberately  consented  to  deprive  itself  of  the 
means  of  continuing  the  war,  on  these  terms,  obtained  a  suspension  of 
hostilities  for  a  period  of  twenty-one  days  for  the  purpose  of  electing  an 
Assembly,  "to  determine  whether  the  war  was  to  be  continued  or  not, 
or,  to  decide  upon  what  conditions  peace  ought  to  be  made." 

It  is  evident  that  after  this  preliminary  convention  between  Bismarck 
and  Favre  the  convocation  of  an  Assembly  to  decide  whether  they  would 
have  war  or  peace,  or  to  discuss  and  settle  upon  the  terms  of  a  treaty, 
was  a  monstrous  farce.  This  convention — the  so-called  armistice — 
was  the  ignoble  prelude  to  the  acceptance  by  Thiers  and  Favre  of  a  treaty 
dictated  by  Prince  Bismarck  and  ratified  by  an  Assembly  that  was 
absolutely  powerless  to  do  otherwise;  and  which  had  been  proposed  and 
convened  for  the  special  purpose  of  relieving  those  representatives  of  the 
Government  who  had  already  signed  the  preliminaries,  or,  were  to  affix 
their  signatures  to  the  terms  finally  demanded — "no  matter  liow  exorbi- 
tant"— of  all  personal  responsibility  for  their  acts. 

Thiers  and  Favre  surrendered  France  unconditionally  to  the  German 
armies,  and,  as  their  act  was  approved  by  the  Bordeaux  Assembly,  the 
German  Chancellor  successfully  accomplished  his  long-cherished  purpose 
to  dictate  the  terms  of  a  peace  with  the  sanction  of  the  treaty-making 
power  of  France. 


THE    END    OF   THE  WAR  471 

and  on  February  17,  1871,  M.  Thiers,  who  had  been  elected 
by  twenty  Departments  as  their  representative  in  the  Na- 
tional Assembly,  was  unanimously  chosen  by  the  members 
of  this  Assembly  as  "  Chief  of  the  Executive  Power  "  in 
France,  and  a  new  ministry  was  formed. 

On  February  26th  the  preliminaries  of  peace  were  con- 
cluded at  Versailles  between  Prince  Bismarck  and  M. 
Thiers,  and  the  day  for  the  ratification  of  the  preliminaries 
was  fixed  for  March  1st. 

And  the  terms  of  this  peace !  Is  it  necessary  to  recall 
them?  to  state  that  they  were  not  the  terms  that  had  been 
offered  to  the  Emperor — the  cession  of  Strasbourg  and  a 
moderate  war  indemnitj^ — but  that  they  included  the  trans- 
fer to  the  German  Empire  of  two  great  French  provinces, 
the  payment  to  the  German  Government  within  five  years 
of  $1,000,000,000,  and  the  entry  into  Paris  on  March  1st 
of  a  German  Army  Corps,  which  was  to  remain  there  until 
these  preliminary  conditions  had  been  ratified  by  the 
Assembly  ? 

On  the  1st  of  March,  1871,  thirty  thousand  German 
troops  marched  into  Paris,  and  Bismarck  came  to  the  Place 
de  1  'Etoile  to  hear  the  bands  play  the  ' '  Wacht  am  Rhein  ' 
under  the  "  Arc  de  Triomphe."  And  squadrons  of  German 
cavalry  were  picketed  along  the  Champs  Elysees  and  in  the 
Place  de  la  Concorde — where  the  faces  of  the  statues  of  the 
great  cities  of  France — Lyons,  and  Strasbourg,  and  Mar- 
seilles, and  Bordeaux,  and  the  rest,  were  hidden  behind 
dense  folds  of  crape,  to  indicate  the  sense  of  the  national 
humiliation.  And  it  was  on  this  same  day,  at  Bordeaux, 
that  the  Assembly,  chosen  purely  and  simply  to  pronounce 
on  the  conditions  of  peace,  formed  itself  into  a  Constitu- 
tional Convention — M.  Thiers  having  declared  that  in  any 
case  it  was  sovereign — and  purged  itself  of  all  responsibil- 
ity for  the  war,  and  for  the  disastrous  and  shameful  terms 
of  peace  it  had  accepted  with  indecent  haste,  by  reaffirming 
the  overthrow  of  Napoleon  III.  and  his  dynasty,  and  de- 


472         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

daring  him  responsible  for  the  ruin,  the  invasion,  and  the 
dismemberment  of  France.* 

The  humiliating  terms  on  which  peace  had  been  ob- 
tained, and  the  unsettled  political  situation  in  France, 
grieved  the  Emperor  bitterly.  The  war,  however,  was  now 
over,  and  he  was  no  longer  a  prisoner.  He  accordingly 
began  to  make  his  arrangements  to  leave  Wilhelmshohe,  for 
the  purpose  of  joining  the  Empress  at  Camden  Place.  But 
it  was  his  destiny,  before  leaving  his  palatial  prison,  to 
hear  of  yet  another  disaster  that  had  befallen  his  country. 
On  March  18th  news  reached  him  of  the  outbreak  of  the 
Commune  in  Paris. 

The  day  of  his  landing  in  England,  March  20, 1871,  was 
unusually  fine,  and  thousands  of  people  had  assembled  on 
the  pier  at  Dover  to  witness  the  arrival  of  the  illustrious 
exile.  The  Empress,  with  the  Prince  Imperial  and  a  lim- 
ited suite,  had  gone  to  Dover  by  special  train  from  Chisle- 
hurst.  They  at  once  proceeded  to  the  Lord  Warden  Hotel, 
where  they  stayed  until  the  steamer  from  Ostend  arrived. 
The  Prince  Imperial,  with  Prince  Napoleon,  Prince  Murat, 
Baron  Dupret,  Prince  Louis  Lucien  Bonaparte,  and  several 
distinguished  English  gentlemen,  had  accompanied  the  Em- 
press from  Chislehurst  to  meet  the  Emperor  on  his  landing. 

As  soon  as  the  boat  was  made  fast,  the  Emperor,  who 
stood  on  deck  with  Baron  Hehren,  General  Fleury,  and  one 
of  the  Princes  Murat,  was  immediately  recognized.  Re- 
peated cries  of  "  Vive  I'Empereur!  "  from  the  assembled 
multitude  greeted  his  Majesty,  who  acknowledged  them  with 
smiles  and  salutes.  As  he  stepped  on  shore,  the  crowd 
pressed  so  closely  about  him  that  it  was  difficult  for  the 
Emperor  to  advance.  The  policemen,  however,  soon  cleared 
a  way  before  him,  and  in  another  moment  the  Empress 
Eugenie  was  in  his  arms.     He  pressed  her  to  his  heart ;  and 

*  See  Appendix  IX. 


THE    COMMUNE  473 

the  Empress,  who  kissed  him  several  times  with  deep  emo- 
tion, and  her  eyes  full  of  tears,  then  walked  away  with  him, 
clasping  his  arm  with  both  hands.  The  Prince  Imperial, 
who  had  taken  hold  of  his  father's  hand  and  saluted  him 
with  a  kiss  on  both  cheeks,  walked  by  his  side.  The  curi- 
osity of  the  people  led  them  to  gather  around  the  exiles, 
who  could  not  proceed  until  the  gentlemen  who  accom- 
panied them,  together  with  some  policemen,  formed  a  cor- 
don, and  the  Imperial  family  were  thus  enabled  to  walk 
slowly  towards  the  Lord  Warden  Hotel. 

Upon  approaching  the  hotel,  loud  shouts  of  "  Vive 
I'Empereur!  "  "  Vive  I'Imperatrice!  "  were  uttered  by 
the  people  who  had  gathered  about  the  entrance,  and  by 
others  who  were  waving  hats  and  handkerchiefs  from  the 
windows.  The  Empress  seemed  half  dismayed  and  half 
pleased  at  this  homage;  but  the  Emperor  smiled  good- 
naturedly,  and  bowed,  lifting  his  hat  to  the  multitude.  The 
Imperial  refugees  stayed  but  a  short  time  at  Dover ;  and  as 
a  special  train  was  in  readiness  at  the  railway  station,  they 
were  able  to  leave  at  two  o'clock.  When  the  train  steamed 
out  of  the  station,  two  or  three  hundred  ladies  and  gentle- 
men, who  had  come  to  witness  the  departure  of  the  illustri- 
ous exiles,  greeted  them  with  loud  acclamations;  and  while 
the  cars  were  slowly  moving  off,  the  sympathetic  cheering 
of  the  English  people  still  for  a  long  while  reached  the  ears 
of  the  deposed  French  monarch,  who  an  hour  or  two  later 
arrived  at  his  new  home  in  Camden  Place. 

When  the  Emperor  left  Wilhelmshohe  I  was  in  Switzer- 
land, where  I  had  gone  to  look  into  the  condition  of  the 
French  soldiers — the  remnant  of  Bourbaki's  army — that 
had  been  forced  to  take  refuge  on  Swiss  territory,  and 
whose  sufferings  from  want  of  food,  exposure,  frost,  and 
fatigue  had  been  almost  beyond  belief.  Thousands  of  their 
companions  had  perished  or  disappeared  in  the  snow  about 
BesanQon  and  Pontarlier;  and  the  condition  of  the  sur- 


474         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

vivors,  frost-bitten,  and  in  rags,  resembled  and  was  no  less 
pitiable  than  the  one  which  is  said  to  have  been  presented 
by  the  shattered  columns  of  the  "  Grand  Army  "  that  es- 
caped from  Moscow.  The  disaster  was  even  greater,  for 
the  morale  of  the  troops  had  vanished,  and  an  army  of  over 
one  hundred  thousand  men  had  been  destroyed.  Le  Gouv- 
emement  de  la  Defense  Nationale  had  found  its  Sedan 
among  the  defiles  of  the  Jura.  It  was  the  fit  ending  of  a 
campaign  begun  on  September  4th  in  which  the  prestige  of 
a  century  was  dissipated,  and  the  record  of  which  is  the 
darkest  and  most  inglorious  in  the  military  history  of 
France.* 

And  here  it  was,  among  these  last  victims  of  the  war  of 
1870-71,  that  my  relief  work  ended. 

A  few  days  after  the  Emperor  arrived  at  Camden  Place, 
I  with  my  wife  went  to  Chislehurst  to  present  our  respects 
to  his  Majesty,  and  our  congratulations  to  the  Imperial 
family,  who,  after  having  experienced  so  many  vicissitudes 
of  fortune,  were  now  again  reunited. 

The  Emperor  received  us  in  the  most  kindly  manner, 
and  with  the  same  ease  I  had  so  often  observed,  just  as  if 
nothing  unusual  had  occurred  since  I  saw  him  at  the  Pal- 
ace of  Saint  Cloud. 

I  noticed  that  he  seemed  to  have  grown  a  little  older, 
that  his  complexion  was  somewhat  paler  than  it  had  for- 
merly been,  and  that  his  face  bore  traces  of  fatigue  and 
suffering.  He  was  now  without  a  throne,  or  a  country,  or 
a  home  that  was  his  own.     Even  the  house  we  were  in  I 

*  Incredible  as  it  may  seem,  this  "army  of  the  Loire,"  numbering 
nearly  150,000  men,  the  critical  situation  of  which  was  known  to  Prince 
Bismarck,  was  expressly  excluded  from  the  armistice,  with  the  consent 
of  Favre,  who,  as  if  to  make  its  destruction  certain,  failed  to  inform 
the  Government  of  Tours,  when  he  announced  the  conclusion  of  an 
armistice,  that,  "Les  operations  militaires  sur  le  terrain  des  departe- 
ments  du  Doubs,  du  Jura,  et  de  la  Cote  d'Or  se  continueront  ind6- 
pendamment  de  l'armistice." 


THE    COMMUNE  475 

myself  had  hired  for  him.  He  appeared,  however,  to  be 
by  no  means  depressed,  but  most  happy  to  be  once  more 
with  his  wife  and  son,  and  pleased  to  see  himself  still  sur- 
rounded by  loyal  and  most  devoted  friends. 

He  at  once  began  to  ask  us  many  of  those  personal  ques- 
tions which,  of  little  importance  in  themselves,  are  always 
prompted  by  sympathies  that  tend  to  make  the  world  akin, 
and  talked  freely  himself  in  reply  to  our  inquiries.  The 
Empress  soon  after  joined  in  the  conversation,  which  ran 
on  for  a  long  time  in  the  same  amiable  personal  vein.  Most 
of  the  things  said  were  of  interest  only  to  ourselves.  But 
the  attempt  of  the  Empress  to  extenuate  the  conduct  of 
some  of  her  enemies — to  whom  I  casually  referred — I  was 
scarcely  prepared  for.  What  made  her  magnanimity — and 
formally  expressed  willingness  to  pardon  them  if  they  would 
only  save  Prance  from  destruction — all  the  more  unexpected, 
was  the  fact  that,  in  referring  to  the  conduct  of  these  per- 
sons, I  had  only  used  the  words  I  had  heard  her  Majesty 
herself  use  when  speaking  of  them.  Time  had  softened  the 
bitterness  of  feeling  which  at  first  it  was  impossible  for  her 
to  repress;  and  she  was  by  nature  too  generous  and  too 
patriotic  to  permit  me,  a  foreigner,  to  say  any  unpleasant 
thing  of  persons  whose  motives  might  be  misjudged,  and 
whom  she  still  fondly  regarded  as  her  own  people.  Her 
Majesty's  ability  to  forgive,  if  not  to  forget,  is  as  remark- 
able as  was  that  of  Napoleon  III.* 

*  In  a  conversation  I  had  not  long  ago  with  the  Empress,  referring 
to  General  Trochu,  she  spoke  of  the  solemn  promise  he  made  to  her 
and  how  he  betrayed  her  that  same  day.  And  then,  in  the  kindly  way 
she  has  of  finding  excuses  for  the  conduct  of  her  political  enemies,  she 
said;  "But  I  really  believe  he  thought  it  was  his  duty  to  act  as  he  did — 
that  the  Empire  was  an  obstacle! — that  he  was  moved  by  no  personal 
ambition  to  side  with  the  revolutionists,  but  that  it  was  entirely  a  matter 
of  conscience  with  him."  "In  fact,"  I  said  smiling,  "your  Majesty 
considers  him  to  have  been  a  conscientious  traitor." 

"Yes,"  she  replied,  apparently  amused  at  the  incongmity  of  the 
words,  "a  conscientious  traitor." 


476         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

Before  we  left,  the  Emperor  thanked  me  for  having 
found  for  the  Empress  and  himself  a  quiet  and  charming 
English  home;  and,  referring  to  my  visit  to  him  at  Wil- 
helmshohe,  spoke  of  the  kindness  of  the  Empress  Augusta 
during  his  residence  there,  as  also  of  the  consideration 
shown  him  by  Emperor  William  and  the  Crown  Prince 
Frederick,  at  the  Chateau  of  Bellevue,  when  he  surrendered 
himself  a  prisoner. 

This  visit  was  a  most  agreeable  one  to  us ;  and  we  were 
especially  delighted  to  find  that  the  Emperor  had  been  able 
to  accept  the  immense  change  in  his  personal  situation  and 
surroundings  with  so  much  philosophy,  and  seemed  to  be 
in  such  excellent  humor. 

The  Commune  and  reign  of  anarchy  having  been  set  up 
in  Paris,  I  was  compelled  to  remain  in  London  for  several 
weeks,  waiting  for  the  restoration  of  order  in  the  French 
capital.  During  this  time  I  was  a  frequent  visitor  to  Chisle- 
hurst.  I  found  the  Emperor  usually  cheerful  and  always 
most  amiable.  But  he  was  troubled  by  the  state  of  affairs 
in  France — evidently  much  more  so  than  by  his  own  per- 
sonal misfortunes.  The  outbreak  in  Paris  disturbed  him 
greatly;  and  he  did  not  conceal  his  sense  of  humiliation 
caused  by  this  most  deplorable  exhibition  of  social  discord 
and  political  violence,  made  by  Frenchmen  in  the  presence 
of  the  German  army  of  occupation,  and  while  half  of  the 
city  of  Paris  was  still  invested  by  Prussian  troops. 

Although  he  did  not  decline  to  speak  about  this  fresh 
disaster  that  had  befallen  his  country,  the  subject  was  pain- 
ful to  him,  and  he  preferred  to  talk  of  other  matters,  of 
those  in  which  his  own  responsibility  was  directly  engaged, 
or  of  persons  who  had  secured  his  confidence  and  esteem. 
And  his  conversation  often  became  most  interesting,  as 
remarkable  for  its  clearness  of  insight  into  the  causes  and 
consequences  of  events,  as  for  its  freedom  from  all  asperity 
when  it  related  to  persons. 

During  one  of  my  visits  he  spoke  to  me  of  the  men  then 


THE    COMMUNE  477 

most  prominent  in  French  politics,  and  I  was  surprised  at 
the  kindly  way  in  which  he  even  excused  some  of  those  who 
had  failed  to  justify  the  confidence  he  had  placed  in  them.  Of 
several  of  his  political  enemies  he  spoke  in  terms  of  praise. 
Among  them  was  M.  Dufaure,  who,  he  said,  had  always 
been  "  an  honest  opponent."  He  had  tried  to  get  him  to 
serve  in  his  Government,  but  had  failed,  Dufaure  having 
his  own  views  with  respect  to  his  political  duties.  He  then 
named  several  persons  whom  he  had  not  succeeded  in 
drawing  to  his  support,  and  others  who  had  deserted  their 
parties  and  their  principles  without  persuasion,  most  of 
whom  had  consulted  only  their  own  personal  interests  or 
those  of  their  families.  "  In  fact,"  he  said,  "  the  men 
whose  acts  have  been  most  injurious  to  myself  and  most  dis- 
advantageous to  my  Government  have  been  those  who,  while 
false  to  their  origins  and  their  dynasties,  or  their  political 
affiliations,  accepted  high  offices  and  responsible  positions  in 
the  Imperial  Government  without  any  equivalent  sense  of 
loyalty  to  the  Government  they  were  serving. ' '  The  name 
of  M.  Thiers  having  been  mentioned,  the  Emperor  said : 
'  He  is  a  most  remarkable  man.  He  has  been  an  active 
opponent  of  mine,  but  I  will  forgive  him,  for  he  has  re- 
cently been  devoting  his  life  to  the  service  of  his  country. 
His  influence  in  France  is  very  great,  and  I  hope  he  may 
continue  to  use  it  for  his  country 's  good. ' ' 

The  strongest  and  most  lasting  impression  left  on  my 
mind  by  these  interviews  was  the  extreme  ease  and  the  ad- 
mirable resignation  with  which  the  Emperor  seemed  to  ac- 
cept his  simple  surroundings  and  the  new  conditions  in 
which  his  destiny  had  placed  him. 

Doubtless  one  of  the  secret  causes  of  his  extraordinary 
capacity  to  suffer  in  silence,  or  to  overlook  the  evidences 
about  him  on  every  side  of  his  fall  from  power,  is  to  be 
found  in  the  fact  that  he  was  constantly  occupied.  Forget- 
ful of  himself — unlike  the  majority  of  men  in  similar  cir- 
cumstances— he  wasted  no  time  in  vain  regrets.  He  was 
32 


478         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

always  at  work  on  some  question  or  matter  of  public  con- 
cern. His  interest  in  these  subjects  never  ceased.  While 
a  prisoner  at  Wilhelmshohe,  the  light  in  his  bedroom  was 
rarely  extinguished  until  an  early  hour  in  the  morning.  At 
Camden  Place  he  passed  much  of  his  time  in  a  small  room 
adjoining  his  bedchamber,  and  most  plainly  furnished, 
where,  surrounded  with  books  and  papers  and  various  docu- 
ments, he  appeared  to  be  as  much  at  home  as  when  seated 
at  his  desk  in  his  cabinet  de  travail  at  the  Palace  of 
the  Tuileries,  where  I  had  so  often  seen  him.  Here, 
after  the  manner,  as  Bacon  says,  Monachi  alicujus  in  cel- 
luld  lucubrantis,  he  engaged  upon  his  favorite  studies — 
the  settlement  of  international  disputes  by  arbitration,  ques- 
tions of  finance,  and  matters  relating  to  public  and  even 
household  economy. 

The  Emperor  was  also  greatly  interested  in  the  educa- 
tion of  the  Prince  Imperial,  who  was  now  in  his  sixteenth 
year,  affectionate,  intelligent,  and,  with  all  the  curiosity  of 
youth,  eager  to  learn.  He  was  proud  of  his  son,  and  de- 
lighted to  talk  with  him  about  the  studies  he  was  then 
pursuing,  under  private  tutors  and  at  King's  College,  Lon- 
don, and  to  instruct  him  in  the  objects  of  government,  the 
rights  of  the  people,  and  the  responsibilities  of  rulers.  He 
wished  him  to  study  the  history  of  France,  in  order  that 
he  might  comprehend  the  spirit  and  the  purpose  of  the 
founder  of  his  dynasty;  and  he  was  most  anxious  that  his 
son  should  clearly  understand  the  principles  by  which  his 
own  political  life  had  been  directed.  He  desired  to  have 
the  young  Prince  fix  firmly  in  his  mind  the  importance  of 
adhering  to  right  and  justice,  in  dealing  with  all  public  as 
well  as  private  concerns.  The  fundamental  principles 
which  he  sought  to  inculcate  in  his  son's  mind  were  that 
without  morality  and  justice  society  could  not  exist;  and 
that  morality  and  justice  could  only  exist  in  a  country 
where  every  one  was  treated  according  to  his  works;  that 
liberty,  except  under  law  and  order,  was  impossible;  that 


THE    COMMUNE  479 

the  source  of  authority  was  the  nation;  and  that  whether 
the  government  exercising  this  authority  was  called  an  em- 
pire or  a  republic,  mattered  nothing  so  long  as  it  expressed 
the  will  of  the  people  freely  consulted. 

His  affection  for  his  son  increased  with  his  own  dimin- 
ished power  and  declining  prospects.  It  was  now  through 
him  he  hoped  that  his  ideas,  his  principles,  and  his  name 
would  be  perpetuated.  He  in  consequence  had  no  secrets 
that  he  wished  to  conceal  from  him ;  a  proof  of  which  he 

gave  one  day  when  M.  R ,  a  distinguished  ex-Minister 

who  was  conversing  with  him,  stopped  speaking  on  the 
Prince  entering  the  room.  "  Oh,  you  can  go  right  on," 
said  the  Emperor,  "  the  Prince  will  be  interested  to  hear 
what  you  have  to  say. ' ' 

They  were  excellent  comrades,  this  father  and  son,  and 
were  often  seen  walking  side  by  side,  in  earnest  conversa- 
tion, up  and  down  the  long  hallway  of  Camden  Place  or 
in  the  grounds  near  by. 

Immediately  after  the  collapse  of  the  Commune  Mrs. 
Evans  and  I  returned  to  Paris.  My  home  I  found  unin- 
jured ;  but  great  was  my  astonishment  when  I  drove  through 
the  streets  of  the  capital  and  saw  the  extent  to  which  the 
work  of  destruction  had  been  carried. 

The  appearance  of  Paris  was  startling;  and  the  devas- 
tation had  not  been  the  work  of  the  Germans,  but  of  the 
French  themselves — of  the  Communists,  by  whom  many 
beautiful  edifices  had  been  wantonly  burned  down,  and  of 
the  Versailles  troops,  by  whom  the  city  was  bombarded 
in  the  attempt  to  recapture  it  from  the  insurgents.  The 
quarter  of  the  city  in  which  I  live  had  been  the  principal 
battle-ground. 

The  Porte  Maillot  had  suffered  frightfully.  The  tunnel 
through  which  the  railway  passes  under  the  Avenue  de  la 
Grande  Armee  had  been  crushed  in  throughout  its  entire 
length;  the  roadway,  traversed  by  an  enormous  ditch,  was 


480         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

half  filled  with  twisted  iron  beams  and  broken  bricks,  and 
the  chasm  was  spanned  by  a  little  wooden  bridge.  The  rail- 
way station  at  this  gate  had  absolutely  disappeared;  not  a 
trace  even  of  its  walls  remained ;  it  had  been  blown  entirely 
away.  Every  house  in  the  neighborhood  was  windowless, 
with  a  hundred  holes  in  the  walls,  and  the  ground  was 
thrown  up  as  if  by  an  earthquake.  To  look  at  the  Porte 
Maillot  alone,  one  would  suppose  that  the  power  of  destruc- 
tion had  done  its  worst  here.  But  this  was  not  the  case; 
the  Porte  d'Auteuil  and  the  Point-du-Jour  were  quite  as 
badly  injured ;  and  at  Neuilly  the  buildings  were  in  a  still 
worse  condition,  for  the  walls  of  most  of  them  were  so  shat- 
tered as  to  threaten  to  fall  at  any  moment. 

From  the  Porte  Maillot  to  the  Porte  de  1  'Imperatrice  the 
houses  were  all  more  or  less  wrecked,  but  none  had  been 
entirely  demolished ;  while  those  standing  back  from  the 
streets,  and  having  gardens  in  front,  generally  had  only 
the  windows  injured.  The  old  Porte  Dauphine,  then  called 
the  Porte  de  l'lmperatrice,  was  almost  intact.  The  draw- 
bridge had  scarcely  a  mark  upon  it,  and  the  railway  station 
and  houses  adjoining  had,  to  my  surprise,  nearly  all  escaped 
injury.  At  La  Muette,  both  the  park  and  chateau  were 
entirely  untouched;  the  trees  stood  as  fresh  and  whole  as 
though  shells  had  not  been  falling  all  around  them,  and  fire 
and  sword  had  not  made  desolate  a  large  part  of  the  beau- 
tiful city  in  the  near  vicinity.  The  entire  estate  had  been 
converted  into  a  fortress,  by  throwing  up  high  earthworks 
around  it,  inside  the  moat  and  railings ;  but  I  could  neither 
see  nor  learn  that  it  had  suffered  in  any  other  way.  Passy 
had  suffered  but  little,  excepting  on  the  Boulevard  Beause- 
jour,  which  runs  along  the  railway  from  the  Grande  Rue 
to  the  Rue  de  l'Assomption.  The  houses  there  were  directly 
in  front  of  the  fire  from  Mont  Valerien  and  Montretout, 
and  some  of  them  were  badly  damaged.  From  this  point 
toward  Auteuil  the  destruction  was  more  and  more  com- 
plete.    The  high,  wooden  bridges  that  crossed  the  railway 


I— I 

—I 
D 

W 
H 

o 


THE    COMMUNE  481 

at  several  points  had  been  reduced  to  splinters;  the  trees 
and  lamp-posts  were  cut  up  and  thrown  yards  away;  holes 
six  feet  deep  were  gaping  everywhere;  house-fronts  were 
smashed  in;  iron  railings  were  cut  through  and  twisted  at 
a  thousand  points;  the  telegraph-wires  hung  in  strings; 
the  road  was  choked  with  debris  of  every  kind ;  and,  in  fact, 
it  would  be  impossible  to  recount  all  the  terrible  effects 
caused  by  the  shells  in  this  section  of  the  city. 

In  Auteuil,  however,  even  this  aspect  of  ruin  was  sur- 
passed. Here  the  spectacle  was  really  sickening.  What 
the  power  of  war  can  do,  was  manifest  in  all  its  destructive 
force ;  what  could  be  done  by  relentless,  ruthless  battering, 
here  was  shown.  The  railway  station,  and  the  high  walls 
which  supported  it,  were  a  heap  of  rubbish,  on  the  top  of 
which  was  stretched  the  iron  roof,  broken  and  twisted  and 
torn,  until  it  was  no  longer  distinguishable  by  its  shape. 
Some  of  the  houses  were  leveled  to  the  ground — only  a  mass 
of  stone  and  plaster,  or  looking  like  huge  bundles  of  split 
firewood.  From  Auteuil  to  the  Point-du-Jour  the  railway 
viaduct  was  terribly  knocked  about.  At  the  Point-du-Jour 
itself  every  building  was  in  ruins.  The  famous  bridge 
across  the  Seine — a  copy  of  the  Roman  Pont-du-Gard — 
only  slightly  injured  by  the  German  bombardment,  was 
nearly  destroyed  during  the  Commune.  Almost  every  roof 
in  the  neighborhood  of  Auteuil  had  been  damaged  more 
or  less,  and  many  of  the  villas  had  not  only  suffered  from 
the  long-continued  shell-fire,  but  had  also  been  pillaged  by 
marauders  as  soon  as  they  were  deserted  by  the  inhabitants. 
No  quarter  of  Paris  suffered  so  severely  as  this. 

Proceeding  up  the  Avenue  de  l'Imperatriee,  as  I  ap- 
proached the  Arc  de  Triomphe,  I  could  scarcely  believe  it 
possible  that  this  was  indeed  the  splendid  monument  that 
was  erected  to  commemorate  the  triumphs  of  the  "  Grand 
Army."  The  face  fronting  the  Bois  de  Boulogne  was 
almost  entirely  destroyed.  It  had  been  struek  by  hundreds 
of  shells,    and   by   thousands  of   the    fragments   of  these 


482         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

missiles.  It  had  apparently  been  a  target  against  which 
certain  batteries  had  been  directed.  Passing  on,  I  entered 
the  Champs  Elysees.  Here  I  scarcely  recognized  the  Paris 
of  old.  Hardly  a  person  was  to  be  seen;  and  as  for  car- 
riages, of  all  the  thousands  that  used  to  line  the  gay  avenue, 
there  were  none ;  they  seemed  to  have  vanished  like  figures 
in  a  dream.  An  unwonted  silence  reigned  on  every  side. 
I  arrived  at  the  Place  de  la  Concorde.  The  great  mass  of 
green  leaves  in  the  Garden  of  the  Tuileries,  though  thin  in 
comparison  with  what  it  once  was,  was  still  dense  enough 
to  shut  out  the  view  of  the  palace,  and  only  through  a  break 
here  and  there  in  the  wall  of  trees  could  I  distinguish  the 
blackened  chimneys  of  the  great  building,  standing  grim 
and  gaunt  above  its  ruins.  As  for  the  Place  itself,  the 
pavements  were  torn  up ;  the  statues  of  the  cities  of  France 
were  all  chipped,  shattered,  and  scarred  by  bullet-marks; 
heaps  of  stones  were  piled  here  and  there;  the  fountains 
were  silent,  one  of  them  being  literally  shattered  into  frag- 
ments, and  the  other  badly  deformed.  An  enormous  earth- 
work closed  the  entrance  to  the  Rue  de  Rivoli.  The  walls 
above  the  terrace  of  the  Garden  of  the  Tuileries  were  para- 
peted with  sand-bags  pierced  with  loop-holes;  and  loop- 
holes also  were  visible  in  the  facades  of  the  public  offices 
fronting  on  the  Place  de  la  Concorde.  Turning  into  the 
Rue  Royale,  from  which  I  saw  smoke  rising  and  impreg- 
nating the  air  with  the  odor  of  charred  wood,  I  found  a 
number  of  people  all  staring  up  at  the  ruins ;  they  seemed 
to  be  conjecturing  as  to  the  number  of  dead  bodies  that 
were  to  be  found  among  them;  for  many  lives  were  lost 
when  the  flames  lighted  by  the  petroleurs  and  the  petro- 
leuses  swept  through  these  shops  and  dwelling-houses. 

As  I  passed  along,  I  observed  that  the  fluted  pillars  of  the 
portico  of  the  Madeleine  were  scarred  by  innumerable  bullet- 
marks.  The  new  Opera-House,  strangely  enough,  escaped 
all  injury;  and  Carpeau's  statuary,  which  has  furnished  so 
many  texts  for  sermons  on  the  demoralization  of  the  Im- 


THE    COMMUNE  483 

perial  era,  was  left  untouched.  It  was  only  after  the  re- 
action— the  monarchical,  clerical  movement  which  set  in 
almost  immediately  after  the  Commune — that  the  ink  was 
thrown  which  for  so  many  years  stained  the  white  fleshly 
limbs  of  the  principal  figure  of  "  The  Dance."  By  an  odd 
fatality,  this  Opera-House  facilitated  the  suppression  of  the 
Commune.  The  barricades  of  the  Rue  Halevy  and  of  the 
Rue  de  la  Chaussee  d'Antin  had  almost  stopped  the  advance 
of  the  Versailles  troops,  when  this  building,  still  unfinished, 
was  secretly  entered  by  them,  and  the  soldiers  were  able 
from  the  windows  of  the  upper  stories  to  fire  upon  the  in- 
surgents, and  thus  render  their  position  untenable.  This 
was  surely  an  unexpected  opening  performance,  a  tragic 
substitute  for  the  long-deferred  inauguration  of  the  "  Im- 
perial Opera." 

I  looked  in  vain  for  the  Column  in  the  Place  Vendome ; 
only  a  flat  block  of  masonry  occupied  the  spot  where  it  had 
stood.  I  no  longer  recognized  the  Rue  de  la  Paix,  which 
I  had  entered  for  so  many  years  nearly  every  morning  and 
left  every  evening,  going  to  and  from  my  office.  I  almost 
doubted  if  I  stood  at  my  own  door  in  this  busy  thorough- 
fare. True,  the  exterior  evidences  of  serious  damage  in  the 
central  part  of  the  city  were  few,  and  after  driving  about 
a  while,  the  spectacle  of  walls  indented,  cornices  chipped, 
and  window-sills  knocked  down  no  longer  made  an  impres- 
sion upon  me.  The  principal  change  which  affected  me, 
and  which  I  could  not  soon  get  accustomed  to,  was  the  quiet- 
ness of  the  streets.  Taking  the  whole  range  of  the  boule- 
vards, from  the  Madeleine  to  the  Rue  Montmartre,  not  a 
house  had  been  injured;  but  when  I  passed  along  and  saw- 
how  many  shops  were  closed,  and  how  apparently  dead  that 
whole  quarter  of  the  city  was,  I  could  scarcely  realize  that 
I  was  in  Paris,  and  that  this  was  the  city  which  I  had  left 
less  than  a  year  before. 

Dismayed  and  sick  at  heart,  I  returned  home.  It 
seemed  to  me   that  Paris  would   never  recover  from  the 


484         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

ravages  of  two  such  fearful  sieges.  Soon,  however,  I  saw 
that  I  was  mistaken.  Hardly  six  months  had  passed  before 
most  of  the  traces  of  this  destruction  had  disappeared, 
and  light-hearted  Paris  already,  ere  a  year  had  elapsed, 
forgot  almost  entirely  the  bitter  consequences  of  war  and 
revolution. 

And  yet,  for  many  long  years  one  huge  pile  of  black- 
ened walls,  the  remains  of  what  was  once  the  Palace  of  the 
Tuileries,  loomed  up  in  the  very  center  of  the  city,  solemn, 
grand,  and  mysterious,  like  a  funereal  monument,  to  remind 
the  world  of  the  uncertain  life  of  governments — in  France. 
It  was  only  in  1883  that,  becoming  apparently  ashamed  of 
this  startling  exhibition  of  the  savagery  of  the  mob,  of  this 
vestige  of  the  reign  of  the  Commune  in  the  Ville  Lumiere, 
the  Government  ordered  the  demolition  of  these  ruins,  and 
covered  with  fresh  turf  and  with  flowers  the  ground  on 
which  had  stood  the  home  of  the  most  famous  kings  of 
France.  Every  trace  of  the  palace  has  been  removed, 
effaced,  or  carefully  covered  up.  And  here  it  is,  in  this 
new  and  formal  garden,  that  to-day  the  children  with  their 
nurses  gather  together  in  hushed  silence,  and  the  idlers  stop 
to  watch  Pol,  the  bird-charmer,  as  he  stands  on  the  grass 
by  the  laurel  bushes  while  the  pigeons  hop  about  his  feet 
picking  up  the  crumbs  he  lets  fall,  or  alight  on  his  head  or 
his  shoulders,  and  the  sparrows  fluttering  in  the  air  peck 
at  the  bit  of  bread  he  holds  in  his  outstretched  hand.  The 
place  that  has  been  the  scene  of  so  many  great  events  in 
French  history  no  longer  even  suggests  continuity  with  the 
past  to  the  Parisian  or  to  the  stranger. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

DEATH    OP    THE   EMPEROR 

The  visitors  to  Camden  Place — November  15,  1871 — The  Emperor's 
health — His  last  photograph — Surgical  advice  is  sought — A  consul- 
tation is  held — A  statement  contradicted — The  operation — The 
death  of  the  Emperor — The  impression  it  produced  in  Paris  and  in 
London — Messages  of  condolence — The  immediate  cause  of  the 
Emperor's  death — His  funeral — "  Vive  Napoleon  IV."- 

00N  after  the  Emperor  arrived  at  Chislehurst 
the  Queen  paid  him  a  friendly  visit;  and  the 
Prince  of  Wales,  and  all  the  members  of 
•  the  English  royal  family,  took  frequent  occa- 
sion to  express  to  the  unfortunate  monarch  their  benevolent 
and  sympathetic  interest. 

Equally  gratifying  and  consoling  to  him  may  have  been 
the  warm  welcome  and  the  respectful  homage  he  every- 
where received  from  the  English  people  when  he  went 
among  them.  To  them,  although  uncrowned,  and  now 
living  like  an  English  country  gentleman,  he  was  always 
"  the  Emperor." 

It  was  not  long,  however,  before  Camden  Place  became 
a  center  of  more  than  ordinary  interest  to  all  those  who 
admire  and  sympathize  with  men  who  bravely  bear  their 
unmerited  misfortunes.  Visitors  from  all  countries  came  to 
see  the  exiled  sovereign;  to  pay  homage  to  the  hero  of  mis- 
fortune ;  to  thank  him  for  his  friendship  to  them  in  his  days 
of  power;  to  assure  him  of  their  continued  esteem,  and 
to  place  their  wealth  at  his  disposition.  The  Emperor 
was  deeply  touched  by  these  manifestations  of  generous 
and  kindly  feeling,  which  at  times  assumed  almost  a  semi- 
public  character. 

4S-. 


486         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

But  there  were  other  visitors,  who  came  to  renew  their 
pledges  of  loyalty  to  his  dynasty. 

The  unsettled  state  of  things  in  France,  the  irrecon- 
cilable elements  in  the  Assembly  at  Versailles,  and  the 
apparent  impossibility  of  uniting  them  to  form  a  definitive 
Government,  began  to  suggest  the  possibility  of  a  restora- 
tion of  the  Empire,  vaguely  at  first,  more  openly  after- 
ward. Before  the  end  of  the  year  the  regrets  of  the 
Imperial  family  were  mingled  with  hopes;  they  began  to 
look  forward,  and  not  backward,  and  at  times  Camden 
Place  was  invested  with  an  air  of  animation  even.  The 
days  of  exile  were  also  brightened  occasionally  by  the  vis- 
its of  old  and  dear  friends,  and  the  messages  and  souvenirs 
that  were  sent  to  Chislehurst  now  and  again,  to  remind 
their  Majesties  that  they  still  held  a  place  in  the  affec- 
tionate remembrance  of  their  countrymen. 

One  of  these  days  was  November  15,  1871.  It  was 
the  anniversary  of  the  Empress'  name-day,  and  quite  a 
large  party  had  assembled  to  honor  the  occasion.  At  din- 
ner, some  twenty  persons  sat  down  at  the  Imperial  table, 
which  was  beautifully  dressed  with  flowers  sent  from 
France;  and  in  their  smiling  faces  one  saw  an  assurance 
that  for  this  one  day,  at  least,  all  were  determined  to  be 
happy. 

On  this  occasion  an  incident  took  place  that  Madame 
Carette  has  reported  at  length,  but  which  illustrates  so 
well  the  character  of  the  Emperor  that  it  is  worth  repeating 
in  substance. 

A  lady  having  remarked  the  recent  rapid  change  in 
the  manners,  and  the  language  even,  of  people  in  good 
society,  went  on  to  say  that  gentlemen  did  not  hesitate 
when  characterizing  their  political  adversaries,  to  employ 
expressions  so  violent  that  they  would  have  been  consid- 
ered under  the  Empire  as  insulting.  "  Discussion  is  angry, 
and  old  friends  are  divided." 

:  Yes,"  said  some  one,  "  you  cannot  get  five  persons 


DEATH    OF    THE    EMPEROR  487 

together  without  finding  that  they  have  five  different 
opinions." 

"  Quite  so,"  said  the  Emperor;  "  that  is  the  French 
character.  Even  here  at  this  table  we  have  all  sorts  of 
opinions." 

This  observation  brought  out  a  general  protest. 

The  Emperor,  his  countenance  brightening,  and  with 
a  mischievous  twinkle  in  his  eyes,  turning  towards  the  Em- 
press at  his  side,  said :  ' '  Why,  you — you  were  always  a 
Legitimist.  You  are  a  perfect  fanatic  for  the  Count  de 
Chambord ;  you  admire  his  character,  and  I  think  you 
admire  also  the  proclamations  he  addresses  to  the  French 
people.  And  here  is  Madame  Lebreton;  she  is  an  Orlean- 
ist;  she  has  retained,  I  am  sure,  a  strong  attachment  for 
the  Orleans  princes.* 

"  And  as  for  jrou,  Conneau  " — addressing  his  old  friend, 
who  was  the  meekest,  gentlest,  and  most  pacific  of  men — 
"  you  are  an  out-and-out  Communist;  you  have  always 
entertained  the  most  subversive  ideas;  you  are  an  enemy 
of  society.  You  have  been  seen  at  the  work,  when  you  were 
in  Florence,  affiliated  to  secret  societies.  You  are  a  Car- 
bonero." 

The  Doctor  nodded  approvingly  to  each  of  these 
charges;  and  every  one  laughed,  greatly  amused  by  the 
humor  of  his  Majesty's  bantering.  Then,  suddenly  be- 
coming serious,  the  Emperor  explained  how  it  was  that 
he  himself  had  been  accused,  and  very  mistakenly,  of  hav- 
ing been  a  conspirator  and  a  Carbonero. 

And  when  he  had  finished,  the  Prince  Imperial  spoke 
up:  "  But,  papa,  I  see  here  mamma,  who  is  a  Legitimist, 
and  Madame  Lebreton,  who  is  an  Orleanist,  and  Dr.  Con- 
neau, who  is  a  Republican;  where,  then,  are  the  Imperial- 
ists? "     Then  the  Emperor,  putting  his  arm  around  the 

*  The  Emperor  referred  to  the  fact  that  Madame  Lebreton  was 
brought  up  by  Queen  Marie  Am61ie,  and  when  young  was  a  playmate 
of  the  Orleans  princesses. 


488         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

waist  of  his  son  and  drawing  him  tenderly  to  his  bosom, 
said:  "  The  Imperialists!  You  are  the  Imperialist,  my 
dear  child." 

But  while  his  Majesty  was  devoting  his  time  and 
thought  to  questions  of  public  interest  or  to  the  education 
of  his  son,  who  in  October,  1871,  entered  the  English 
Military  Academy  at  Woolwich,  his  health  began  to  be 
a  subject  of  concern  to  himself  and  a  source  of  anxiety 
to  his  friends.  Visits  to  Torquay  and  to  the  Isle  of  Wight, 
although  followed  by  temporary  improvement,  brought  no 
permanent  relief.  Nor,  from  the  character  of  his  malady, 
did  any  such  relief  appear  probable,  unless  the  cause  of 
the  troublesome  and  painful  symptoms  could  be  definitely 
ascertained  and  removed. 

The  first  indications  of  the  disease  that  finally  resulted 
in  his  death  made  their  appearance  in  1863,  in  the  form  of 
an  attack  of  hematuria,  following  a  carriage  accident. 
After  a  few  weeks  a  recovery  appeared  to  have  been 
effected.  But  later,  the  symptoms  of  vesical  irritation  re- 
curred, together  with  other  disabilities  which,  in  two  or 
three  instances,  required  surgical  intervention.  At  length, 
so  unsatisfactory  were  the  results  of  treatment — so  serious 
even  had  the  Emperor's  condition  become — that,  in  the 
spring  of  1870,  it  was  decided  to  have  a  consultation  of 
surgeons.  The  consultation,  in  fact,  took  place  on  the  1st 
of  July,  1870 ;  the  surgeons  present  being  Nelaton,  Ricord, 
Fauvel,  Germain  See,  and  Corvisart.  Dr.  Conneau  was 
also  present.  There  is  said  to  have  been  some  difference  of 
opinion  among  these  gentlemen  with  respect  to  the  diagno- 
sis, and,  more  particularly,  concerning  the  urgency  of  a 
surgical  examination.  But  this  difference  does  not  appear 
in  the  report  drawn  up  by  Professor  See  which  is  a  model 
of  its  kind,  alike  comprehensive  and  clear. 

The  conclusion  was  that  the  Emperor  was  suffering  from 
a  purulent  cystitis — caused  by  a  stone  in  the  bladder;  and 


DEATH    OF    THE    EMPEROR  489 

that  the  sound  should  be  used  to  make  sure  of  the  existence 
and  character  of  this  foreign  body.  A  copy  of  this  report 
is  said  to  have  been  among  the  papers  found  at  the  Tuileries 
by  the  Government  of  the  National  Defense.  As  published, 
it  is  dated — Paris,  July  3,  1870,  and  is  signed  by  "  Pro- 
fessor G.  See,"  alone.  It  has  been  the  subject  of  much 
discussion — Why  it  was  not  signed  by  all  of  the  consulting 
surgeons?  Why  it  was  not  heard  of  until  the  war  was 
over  ? — and  of  much  curious  speculation  also ;  whether,  had 
it  been  known,  there  would  have  been  a  war — or  the  war 
would  have  been  begun  and  ended  as  it  did,  and  so  forth; 
the  absurdity  of  which  will  appear  in  the  light  of  a  fact 
quaintly  stated  by  an  old  English  writer,  namely :  ' '  There 
is  no  action  of  man  in  this  life  which  is  not  the  beginning 
of  so  long  a  chain  of  consequences  as  that  no  human  provi- 
dence is  high  enough  to  give  us  a  prospect  to  the  end." 
But  its  chief  interest,  in  this  connection,  is  that  it  estab- 
lishes very  clearly  the  nature  of  the  local  disabilities  from 
which  the  Emperor  had  been  suffering  for  many  years,  as 
also  his  physical  unfitness,  in  July,  1870,  to  endure  the 
fatigues  and  excitements  of  a  military  campaign. 

In  the  autumn  of  1872  he  requested  me  to  come  to 
Chislehurst,  as  he  wished  to  see  me  professionally.  He 
received  me  in  his  usual  cordial  way,  with  the  old-time 
smile  and  warm  grasp  of  the  hand.  I  noticed  that  there 
was  a  slight  puffiness  and  lack  of  color  in  his  face,  and 
a  slowness  of  movement  that  seemed  to  indicate  advancing 
years  and  failing  strength. 

Not  long  before,  the  Emperor,  with  his  cousin,  Charles 
Bonaparte,  had  gone  to  London  to  have  his  photograph 
taken.  On  arriving  at  the  photographer's,  he  said  to  his 
cousin,  "  How  shall  I  be  taken?  '  But  when  the  camera 
was  placed  in  front  of  him,  he  said,  "  I  have  it — I  must 
remember  that  I  am  only  an  exile."  This  was  the  last 
photograph  he  ever  had  taken.  The  portrait  facing  page 
228  is  a  reproduction  of  this  photograph.    It  reveals  traces 


490         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

of  the  sorrow  and  suffering  that  misfortune  had  written 
indelibly  upon  his  features.  The  expression  is  sad,  but  the 
likeness  is  excellent,  and  shows  the  man  as  he  appeared  at 
the  time  of  my  visit. 

He  made  to  me  no  special  complaint  on  this  occasion, 
although  he  seemed  perhaps  a  little  depressed.  He  asked 
some  questions  about  mutual  acquaintances,  and  spoke  of 
the  difficulties  M.  Thiers  was  meeting  with  in  the  Assembly. 
Having  told  him  that  I  intended  to  remain  in  England 
a  short  time,  on  my  leaving  he  expressed  the  hope  that  I 
would  call  upon  him  before  returning  to  Paris.  This 
I  promised  to  do;  and  accordingly,  about  a  week  later,  I 
visited  Camden  Place  again.  It  was  then  that  he  spoke 
to  me  of  his  physical  disabilities,  and  said  that  he  had 
concluded  to  consult  some  of  the  medical  or  surgical  au- 
thorities in  London.  I  immediately  suggested  to  him  Sir 
James  Paget,  who  not  only  stood  high  as  a  surgeon,  but 
was  a  man  of  the  purest  character,  in  whom  all  confidence 
could  be  placed.  The  Emperor  seemed  much  pleased  with 
this  suggestion,  and  asked  me  to  go  and  see  Sir  James, 
and  make  an  appointment  with  him  to  come  to  Chislehurst 
at  his  own  convenience,  remarking:  "  I  shall  ask  you  the 
favor  to  arrange  with  him  respecting  his  fees,  since  I  am 
no  longer  able  to  incur  expenses  as  I  formerly  did,  although 
I  like  to  be  liberal  to  professional  men."  I  assured  him 
that  he  need  have  no  concern  about  this,  for  I  felt  quite 
certain  that  Sir  James  would  do  almost  anything  to  be 
agreeable  to  me,  and  would  feel  it  to  be  an  honor  to  have 
his  Majesty's  confidence. 

On  returning  to  London.  I  called  upon  Sir  James  Paget, 
and  reported  to  him  the  conversation  I  had  had  with  the 
Emperor.  Whereupon  he  most  kindly  consented  to  go 
with  me  to  Chislehurst  the  next  day  (October  31st).  Here 
he  met  Sir  William  Gull,  and  also  Baron  Corvisart,  and 
Dr.  Conneau,  the  physicians  attached  to  the  Emperor's 
household,   who  had  followed  their  sovereign  into  exile; 


DEATH    OF    THE    EMPEROR  491 

and  the  case  of  the  distinguished  patient  was  fully  set 
forth  and  carefully  considered.  That  the  disabilities  and 
distress  experienced  were  occasioned  by  the  presence  of  a 
stone  was  a  matter  about  which  there  was  and  could  be 
very  little  doubt.  But — and  I  think  I  may  say  this  with- 
out violating  any  confidence — Sir  James  seemed  to  hesitate 
with  regard  to  the  expediency  of  an  operation  of  any  kind. 
At  least,  he  expressed  the  opinion  that,  with  a  proper 
regimen  and  with  quiet,  the  Emperor  might  live  for  many 
years  to  come  without  an  operation.  "  Of  course,"  he  said 
to  me,  "  the  Emperor  must  expect  to  suffer  more  or  less; 
still  he  can  live  with  his  enemy  by  taking  care  of  him." 

But  during  the  weeks  that  followed,  his  Majesty's 
physical  condition,  far  from  improving,  grew  worse.  He 
was  at  last  compelled  to  give  up  all  exercise,  even  walk- 
ing, rarely  leaving  the  house,  and  with  results  that  began 
to  affect  his  general  health.  In  these  circumstances 
the  relief  from  pain  and  the  improvement  in  health  and 
strength  that  would  follow  a  successful  operation  were 
matters  too  important  and  too  desirable  to  be  ignored. 
And  the  Emperor  having  expressed  a  wish  to  have  another 
surgeon  called  in  consultation,  Sir  Henry  Thompson,  an 
eminent  specialist,  who  had  already  visited  his  Majesty 
a  few  weeks  before,  was  mentioned  as  perhaps  the  highest 
authority  and  the  most  skilful  operator  in  similar  cases. 
Sir  James  Paget  at  once  assented  to  this  proposal,  and 
said  that  the  opinion  of  Sir  Henry  would  have  great 
weight  with  him  and  be  most  useful.  Sir  Henry  Thomp- 
son was  accordingly  summoned  to  Camden  Place,  where, 
on  December  24th,  he  met  in  consultation  Sir  William 
Gull  and  Sir  James  Paget,  together  with  the  ordinary 
physicians  of  his  Majesty. 

These  gentlemen  were  unanimous  in  their  opinion  that 
a  thorough  examination  ought  to  be  made,  under  chloro- 
form, in  order  that  all  doubt  as  to  the  diagnosis  might  be 
removed.     It  was  furthermore  arranged  that  the  explora- 


492         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

tory  operation  should  be  performed  on  January  2d  fol- 
lowing. And  it  was  then  that  the  sound  unmistakably  re- 
vealed the  presence  of  a  stone.  Whatever  complications 
might  exist,  this  alone  was  believed  to  be  a  sufficient  cause 
for  the  general  symptoms  of  disability  observed,  and  more 
particularly  for  the  excruciating  pains  experienced. 

Sir  Henry  took  an  optimistic  view  of  the  case,  and 
proposed  lithotrity  (crushing),  which  is  not  supposed  to 
be  attended  with  much  danger  in  most  cases,  since  it  in- 
volves no  cutting,  and  the  treatment,  which  usually  re- 
quires several  operations,  can  be  suspended  the  moment 
any  unfavorable  symptoms  make  their  appearance. 

After  having  carefully  ascertained  his  Majesty's  phys- 
ical condition,  it  was  the  unanimous  opinion  of  these 
distinguished  professional  men  that,  in  view  of  all  the 
facts  in  the  case,  the  operation  of  lithotrity  should  be 
attempted.  This  conclusion  having  been  reported  to  the 
Emperor,  he  expressed  his  willingness  to  submit  to  what- 
ever surgical  procedure  might  be  thought  necessary,  and 
requested  that  the  treatment  proposed  should  begin  at 
once.  On  this  same  day,  therefore,  January  2,  1873,  at 
three  o'clock  p.m.,  the  first  operation  was  performed  by 
Sir  Henry  Thompson,  in  the  presence  of  the  attending 
physicians  and  surgeons. 

And  here  I  wish  to  contradict  a  statement  that  has 
been  made,  and  is  frequently  repeated,  namely,  that  this 
consultation  was  held,  and  surgery  resorted  to,  having  in 
view  a  political  purpose;  that,  in  fact,  it  was  the  first 
step  in  the  execution  of  a  carefully  prepared  design  to 
repeat  the  attempt  of  1840.  A  descent,  so  it  is  said,  was 
to  be  made  on  the  French  coast,  to  be  followed  by  a  march 
on  Paris,  and  the  Emperor,  on  horseback,  was  to  enter 
the  city  at  the  head  of  his  army.  The  success  of  the 
scheme  was  supposed  to  depend  entirely  upon  the  Em- 
peror's ability  to  ride  into  Paris  on  horseback;  and  as  his 


DEATH    OF    THE    EMPEROR  493 

disability  was  of  such  a  nature  as  to  make  this  impossible, 
it  became  necessary  either  to  find  some  means  of  remov- 
ing it  or  to  abandon  the  idea  of  a  restoration  of  the 
Empire. 

This  story,  which  has  been  told  in  slightly  different 
forms,  was  either  deliberately  fabricated  for  a  political 
purpose,  or  was  the  product  of  an  active  but  ignorant  imag- 
ination. The  resort  at  this  time  to  surgical  treatment  was 
advised,  and  consented  to,  in  the  Emperor 's  case,  on  exactly 
the  same  grounds  and  for  the  same  reasons  that  would 
have  made  such  treatment  seem  expedient  in  the  case  of 
any  private  individual ;  the  suffering  was  great,  the  disease 
was  progressing,  and  the  general  health  was  becoming 
rapidly  affected ;  if  no  remedy  could  be  found,  it  might 
soon  be  too  late. 

There  was  but  one  fact  that  gave  color  to  this  other- 
wise perfectly  transparent  invention.  During  the  latter 
part  of  the  year  (1872)  the  unsettled  state  of  affairs  in 
France — the  apparent  impossibility  of  organizing  there  a 
stable  government  of  any  sort — was  causing  a  manifest 
reaction  in  favor  of  the  Empire;  and  the  probability  of 
its  restoration  at  no  distant  day  led  the  supporters  of  the 
Imperial  dynasty  to  make  frequent  visits  to  Chislehurst 
and  to  speak  of  the  future  with  hope  and  confidence. 
Those  persons,  however,  who  imagine  that  the  Emperor 
was  at  this  time  conspiring  to  overthrow  the  French  Re- 
public, and  intriguing  to  recover  his  throne,  are  greatly 
mistaken.  He  understood  perfectly  well  that  it  was  im- 
possible for  him,  in  the  existing  situation  of  affairs,  to 
return  to  France  except,  to  use  his  own  words,  "  through 
the  open  door  of  universal  suffrage."  It  was  absolutely 
essential  to  his  conception  of  the  source  of  authority  in 
civil  affairs,  and  to  his  traditional  sense  of  the  Imperial 
dignity,  that  the  dynasty  should  be  restored  only  in  re- 
sponse to  the  will  of  the  French  people,  freely  expressed. 
Had  he  not  said  again  and  again,  both  in  private  and 
33 


494         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

coram  populo,  that  public  opinion  was  the  foundation  of 
all  his  power,  and  that  without  the  confidence  of  the  peo- 
ple his  Government  could  not  exist  a  single  day?  While 
the  Republic,  or  the  Orleanist  and  Legitimist  monarchies, 
repudiating  all  responsibility  for  the  consequences  of  the 
late  war,  might  be  able  to  take  possession  of  the  Govern- 
ment of  France,  dismembered  and  still  occupied  by  the 
German  army,  without  regard  to  the  wishes  of  the  major- 
ity, it  must  be  evident  to  every  one  that  the  Emperor 
neither  would  nor  could  do  this,  and  that  he  could  not 
hope  to  retain  the  sovereign  power,  even  were  he  to  grasp 
it,  unless  the  French  people  themselves  had  called  him  to 
the  throne.  This  was  the  condition  of  an  Imperial  restora- 
tion, sine  qua  non. 

The  operation  of  lithotrity  being  a  tedious  and  painful 
one,  the  Emperor  had  been  placed  under  the  influence  of 
chloroform,  which  he  supported  well  and  recovered  from 
without  unpleasant  consequences.  The  first  attempt  to 
crush  the  stone  was,  in  fact,  as  successful  as  could  have 
been  hoped;  several  fragments  were  broken  off  and  re- 
moved, and  at  the  same  time  the  size  as  well  as  the  specific 
character  of  the  foreign  body  was  ascertained ;  but  the  grav- 
ity of  the  case  was  made  apparent,  and  the  suffering  to 
which  the  Emperor  had  been  subjected  during  his  long 
malady  was  recognized  to  have  been  very  great;  so  great 
that  Sir  Henry  Thompson  exclaimed:  "  What  extraordi- 
nary heroism  the  Emperor  must  have  possessed,  to  sit  in 
his  saddle  for  five  hours,  holding  on  with  both  hands, 
during  the  battle  of  Sedan!  The  agony  must  have 
been  constant.  I  cannot  understand  how  he  could  have 
borne  it." 

The  next  day  the  patient  had  no  fever,  and  although 
there  was  some  local  irritation,  everything  seemed  prom- 
ising. The  greatest  danger  appeared  to  be  over,  and  every 
one  in  the  house  was  happy.  Accordingly,  a  second  opera- 
tion was  fixed  for  the  6th  of  January. 


DEATH    OF    THE    EMPEROR  49^ 

This  operation  was  also  performed  successfully,  but 
was  not  supported  as  well  as  the  first  had  been.  It  was 
followed  by  a  little  fever,  and  the  Emperor's  condition 
during  the  next  two  days  caused  some  anxiety  to  the  phy- 
sicians attending  him ;  but  an  improvement  being  perceived 
on  the  evening  of  the  8th,  it  was  decided  to  have  a  third 
operation  the  following  day,  at  noon. 

On  the  morning  of  the  9th,  when  the  Empress  visited 
her  husband  as  usual,  she  found  that  he  had  slept  well 
during  the  night,  and  appeared  to  be  much  better  than 
the  day  before;  so  much  so,  indeed,  that  she  had  given 
orders  to  have  her  carriage  and  horses  ready  for  the  pur- 
pose of  herself  driving  to  Woolwich  to  give  the  Prince 
Imperial  the  good  news  of  the  Emperor's  improved  and 
promising  condition. 

A  little  before  ten  o'clock  his  Majesty  was  still  lying 
easily,  and  his  good  pulse  and  regular  breathing  seemed 
to  indicate  that  all  would  end  well.  Not  long  after,  how- 
ever, and  before  the  commencement  of  the  proposed  opera- 
tion, Baron  Corvisart  observed  that  the  pulse  of  the 
illustrious  patient  was  suddenly  and  rapidly  failing — 
that  he  seemed  to  be  losing  consciousness;  and  his  col- 
leagues, whose  attention  he  had  directed  to  these  alarming 
symptoms,  saw  the  imminent  danger,  and  immediately 
realized  that  Napoleon  III.  might  have  but  a  few  minutes 
more  to  live. 

The  Empress  was  at  once  sent  for,  and  Count  Clary 
hurried  to  Woolwich  to  fetch  the  Prince  Imperial. 

When  her  Majesty  entered  the  room  of  her  husband 
she  found  him  scarcely  breathing.  "  But  he  is  dying!  ' 
she  exclaimed.  Stimulants  were  administered,  and  various 
efforts  were  made  to  revive  him.  but  in  vain-,  and  then 
Monsignor  Goddard,  who  had  been  sent  for.  administered 
the  last  sacraments  of  the  Church.  As  the  Empress 
leaned  over  him,  the  dying  Emperor's  eyes  were  fixed  for 
a  moment  upon  her.     Recognizing  his  devoted  companion, 


496         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

his  lips  moved  as  if  he  wished  to  speak;  and  then,  a  smile 
resting  for  a  moment  on  his  face,  he  sighed  twice,  and  all 
was  over.  It  was  a  quarter  past  eleven  o'clock,  and 
scarcely  twenty  minutes  after  the  syncopal  seizure. 

When  the  Empress  saw  everybody  kneeling,  the  terrible 
truth  dawned  upon  her,  and, .  with  a  loud  cry,  she  sank 
down  near  the  couch  of  her  beloved  consort.  There  she 
remained  in  tears,  and  immovable,  until  she  heard  that 
the  Prince  Imperial  had  arrived. 

At  the  door  of  the  vestibule  of  Camden  Place  the  Prince 
was  received  by  Count  Daviller.  Count  Clary  had  already 
informed  the  young  man  of  the  grave  apprehensions  among 
those  who  were  in  attendance  upon  the  Emperor  when  he 
left  Chislehurst;  and,  although  Count  Daviller  did  not  an- 
nounce to  the  Prince  that  the  Emperor  was  dead,  his  pale 
face  indicated  that  the  worst  might  be  feared. 

"  What  has  happened?  Tell  me — tell  me,"  said  the 
Prince.  But  not  waiting  for  an  answer,  he  ran  up-stairs 
and  towards  the  room  where  his  father  had  just  commenced 
his  last  sleep. 

At  the  door  his  mother  met  him,  and  falling  upon  his 
neck  she  said,  weeping  bitterly,  "  Je  n'ai  plus  que  toi, 
Louis!  "  Pale  as  death,  the  Prince  entered  the  room,  and, 
kneeling  down  before  the  couch  of  the  Emperor,  uttered 
aloud  a  short  prayer.  He  then  arose  and  kissed  his  dead 
father.  His  silence,  his  struggle  with  his  emotion,  the 
expression  in  his  eyes,  and  his  movements  were  most 
painful  to  all  who  witnessed  the  scene,  and  his  friends 
hastened  to  tear  him  away  from  the  body  to  which  he 
feverishly  clung.  As  they  led  him  to  his  own  apart- 
ment, he  gave  way  to  his  grief,  and  found  relief  in  tears 
and  sobs. 

I  had  been  informed  of  the  proposed  consultation  with 
Sir  Henry  Thompson,  and  the  conclusion  that  surgical 
treatment  was  necessary  had  been  communicated  to  me; 
and  although  I  could  not  fail  to  remember  the  words  of 


DEATH    OF    THE    EMPEROR  497 

my  wise  and  prudent  friend,  Sir  James  Paget,  the  success 
of  the  first  operation  was  reported  to  me  in  such  glowing 
terms  as  to  dissipate  any  apprehensions  concerning  its  final 
success  that  I  might  have  previously  entertained. 

Such,  indeed,  was  my  confidence  as  to  all  danger  being 
now  over,  that  I  think  I  have  never  been  more  surprised 
and  shocked  than  I  was  on  the  afternoon  of  January  9th, 
when,  about  four  o'clock,  I  received  a  despatch  announ- 
cing the  death  of  the  Emperor.  I  simply  could  not  believe 
it.  If  it  were  true,  M.  Rouher  must  have  heard  of  it. 
Instantly  I  left  my  office  and  hastened  to  the  modest 
mansion  in  the  Rue  de  l'Elysee  where  the  former  Minister 
of  his  Majesty  then  resided.  Before  I  entered  I  saw  that 
there  could  be  no  question  as  to  the  truth  of  the  announce- 
ment of  the  Emperor's  death.  The  doors  of  the  house 
stood  wide  open.  Visitors  could  be  seen  moving  through 
the  corridors,  ascending  and  descending  the  stairs  without 
interruption ;  and  although  the  servants  at  first  made  ef- 
forts to  prevent  the  people  from  crowding  into  the  build- 
ing, they  had  quickly  to  renounce  this  attempt;  for  soon 
an  unending  concourse,  that  had  gathered  in  the  street 
and  in  front  of  the  house,  began  to  pass  through  the  apart- 
ments, thinking  of  nothing  but  the  fearful  disaster  that 
had  befallen  France.  In  the  little  drawing-room  to  the 
right  of  the  entrance,  where  the  Emperor 's  intimate  friends 
were  accustomed  to  gather,  Madame  and  Mademoiselle 
Rouher  were  receiving  the  most  distinguished  visitors, 
when,  toward  five  o'clock,  M.  Rouher  himself  arrived  from 
the  Chamber  of  Deputies,  where  he  had  just  announced  the 
sad  news  to  the  national  representatives.  In  the  course 
of  an  hour  nearly  all  the  prominent  Bonapartists  were  to 
be  seen  in  this  little  room,  among  them  M.  Henri  Chevreau, 
M.  Behic,  the  Duke  de  Gramont,  MM.  Abbatucci,  Galloni 
d'Istria,  Forcade  de  la  Roquette,  the  Duke  and  Duchess 
de  Montmorency,  the  Princess  Louisa  Poniatowski,  Baron 
and  Baroness  Farincourt,  M.  Benedetti,  the  Marquis  Cosse- 


498         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

Brissac,  the  Count  d  'Ayguesvives,  the  Baron  de  Bourgoing, 
Colonel  Stoffel,  MM.  Granier,  and  Paul  de  Cassagnac,  the 
Commander  Duperre,  and,  in  fact,  nearly  all  the  ministers, 
senators,  deputies,  and  generals  of  the  late  Empire.  In 
a  retired  corner  of  the  room,  reclining  upon  a  divan, 
Prince  Charles  Bonaparte  was  weeping  bitterly,  and 
scarcely  able  to  suppress  his  sobs;  while  outside  in  the 
corridor  there  moved  a  somber  crowd  of  men  of  all  con- 
ditions of  life — gentlemen  in  evening-dress,  officials  in 
uniform,  working  men  in  their  blouses,  old  soldiers  with 
gray  mustaches  and  stern  faces,  tears  running  down  the 
pallid  features  upon  which,  perhaps  for  the  first  time,  such 
signs  of  sorrow  were  to  be  seen. 

In  London,  the  announcement  of  the  death  of  the  Em- 
peror made  a  deep  impression.  The  Times  of  the  10th 
said:  "  Indeed,  since  the  death  of  the  Prince  Consort,  no 
event  of  the  kind  has  produced  anything  like  so  profound 
a  feeling  of  sorrow  in  the  city  of  London  ";  and  in  the 
issue  of  the  next  day  the  leading  article  ended  as  follows : 
"  Louis  Napoleon  stood  throughout  our  fast  friend  to  the 
very  bounds  of  discretion.  He  saw  and  felt  that  our  place 
was  to  stand  together ;  such  were  our  natural  affinities,  such 
our  social  interests,  such  our  position.  He  had  made  two 
long  sojourns  with  us  and  had  learned  our  ways.  He  had 
become  one  of  us.  He  did  not  disguise  his  Anglican  lean- 
ings. Like  his  immediate  predecessor  on  the  throne, 
Napoleon  III.  will  lie  in  an  English  grave — more  secure 
there  than  at  Saint  Denis,  more  secure,  probably,  than  at 
the  Invalides.  Received  on  these  shores  with  the  sympathy 
due  to  misfortune,  and  followed  everywhere  with  the  re- 
spect due  to  a  dignified  bearing  and  an  affectionate  nature, 
the  ex-Emperor  acquires  a  new  claim  to  consideration  in 
the  agonies  of  his  death-bed,  the  manly  patience  with  which 
they  have  been  borne,  and  the  deep  affection  of  those  he 
leaves  behind  him." 

Perhaps  still  more  significant  of  the  profound  respect 


DEATH    OF    THE    EMPEROR  499 

for  the  memory  of  Napoleon  III.  entertained  by  the  world, 
beyond  the  borders  of  the  Empire  he  ruled,  were  the  letters 
of  condolence  sent  to  the  Empress  by  the  municipalities 
of  the  principal  Italian  cities.  The  municipal  council  of 
Pavia,  "  in  remembrance  of  the  glorious  days  of  Magenta 
and  Solferino,  sends  to  the  widow  of  the  great  man,  now 
no  more,  expressions  of  ardent  and  sincere  grief."  From 
Florence  the  Syndic  Peruzzi  wrote:  "  To  her  Majesty  the 
Empress  of  the  French :  This  Communal  Council,  assem- 
bled to-day  for  the  purpose  of  being  the  interpreter  of 
public  sentiment,  sends  to  your  Majesty,  and  the  Imperial 
Prince,  the  most  respectful  and  heartfelt  condolence,  in 
the  name  of  the  Italian  population,  on  the  occasion  of  the 
loss  you  have  experienced  in  the  person  of  the  man  who 
was  the  stanch  and  liberal  friend  of  Italy,  and  who  helped 
her  so  vigorously  to  redeem  her  freedom.  His  name  shall 
be  engraved  upon  our  hearts  forever. ' '  And  from  Venice, 
and  Milan,  and  Leghorn,  and  Naples,  and  scores  of  Italian 
cities,  came  similar  testimonials  of  appreciation  and  grate- 
ful remembrance. 

On  January  10th  a  post-mortem  examination  was  held 
over  the  body  of  the  Emperor  Napoleon  III.  The  stone 
— a  phosphatic  concretion — was  found  nearly  or  quite  half 
destroyed  by  the  crushing  to  which  it  had  been  subjected. 
The  part  remaining  was  one  and  one-fourth  inches  in 
breadth,  and  one  and  five-sixteenths  inches  in  length :  its 
weight  was  about  three-quarters  of  an  ounce.  The  mucous 
membrane  of  the  bladder  showed  signs  of  much  irritation, 
both  old  and  recent;  the  ureters  were  distended  and  the 
kidneys  diseased,  but  all  the  other  organs  of  the  body  were 
sound.  The  immediate  cause  of  death  was  attributed,  and 
probably  rightly,  to  urcemic  syncope. 

The  next  day  the  body  was  embalmed  and  placed  in  a 
coffin,  dressed  in  a  blue  tunic  and  red  trousers,  with  a  gold 
sash  around  the  waist — the  undress  uniform  of  a  French 
General  of  Division.    The  dead  Emperor  wore  the  broad  red 


500         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

cordon  of  the  Legion  of  Honor,  and  a  row  of  medals  and 
decorations  was  attached  to  the  left  breast.  By  his  side 
was  a  sword,  and  between  the  hands,  that  were  crossed 
upon  the  lower  part  of  his  chest,  lay  a  pair  of  white  gloves. 
Two  plain  gold  rings — one  his  wedding-ring — were  on  the 
third  and  fourth  fingers  of  the  left  hand,  and  a  small  cru- 
cifix was  placed  upon  his  breast. 

On  Monday  his  body  was  removed  from  the  small  room 
where  he  died  to  the  hall  of  Camden  Place,  where,  placed 
on  an  inclined  plane,  under  the  skylight  darkened  and 
draped  with  the  flags  of  the  army  he  once  commanded, 
the  face  in  full  view,  a  military  cloak  across  the  feet,  in 
a  Chapelle  Ardente  formed  of  dark  hangings  and  lighted 
by  candles  in  silver  candelabra,  it  lay  in  state  until  the 
funeral. 

The  Empress  and  the  Prince  Imperial  were  visited  by 
the  Prince  of  Wales  and  other  members  of  the  royal  fam- 
ily, and  the  Empress  received  a  most  affectionate  message 
of  condolence  from  Queen  Victoria.  On  the  following  day 
(Tuesday)  the  thousands  who  had  assembled  to  pass  be- 
fore the  coffin  were  permitted  to  enter  the  house  in  groups 
of  two  hundred.  It  is  estimated  that  on  this  day  nearly 
twenty  thousand  people  visited  Camden  Place,  wearing 
mourning  costume,  many  of  whom  were  unable  to  pay  their 
last  respects  to  the  dead  Emperor  simply  because  the  hours 
passed  and  the  night  came  before  this  multitude  could  be 
admitted  to  the  hall  where  his  body  lay. 

On  January  13th  I  went  to  England  for  the  purpose 
of  expressing  in  person  to  the  Empress  and  the  Prince 
Imperial  my  sympathy  in  their  bereavement,  and,  as  a 
member  of  the  official  household  of  the  late  Emperor, 
to  attend  his  funeral,  which  was  to  take  place  on 
the  15th. 

This  funeral  will  be  remembered  by  every  one  who 
saw  it  as  a  very  simple  but  remarkably  impressive  spec- 
tacle.     All  the   arrangements   were   made  by  M.   Pietri, 


DEATH    OF    THE    EMPEROR  501 

Count  Clary,  and  Count  Daviller.  Between  two  thousand 
and  three  thousand  of  the  most  prominent  Frenchmen  in 
all  walks  of  life  were  present  in  the  procession,  and  up- 
ward of  fifty  thousand  English  people  congregated  to 
witness  the  passing  of  the  cortege  along  the  half-mile  of 
road  from  Camden  Place  to  St.  Mary's  Church. 

The  people  began  to  assemble  in  the  vicinity  of  Cam- 
den Place  at  an  early  hour,  though  none  but  those  who 
were  in  possession  of  special  invitations  were  admitted 
into  the  grounds  or  near  the  dwelling. 

At  twenty  minutes  past  ten  the  hearse,  drawn  by 
eight  black  horses,  drew  up  before  the  hall-door.  A  num- 
ber of  French  workmen  in  white  blouses,  the  dress  of 
mechanics,  now  defiled  along  the  front  of  the  right  wing 
of  the  house.  At  their  head  was  a  man  who  held  aloft 
a  French  flag,  while  another  carried  a  large  wreath  of 
immortelles,  bearing  the  inscription,  "  Paris.  Souvenir  ct 
regrets  eles  ouvriers  tie  Paris  a  sa  Majeste  VEmpcreur 
Napoleon."  Flowers  in  profusion  were  hung  upon  the 
sides  or  piled  upon  the  top  of  the  hearse,  and  most  of 
them  were  fresh  violets — the  symbolic  flower  of  the  Bona- 
parte family — wrought  in  various  devices. 

At  the  foot  of  a  fine  tall  cedar  in  front  of  the  north 
wing  of  the  mansion,  some  six  or  seven  hundred  noblemen 
and  gentlemen  of  France  were  prepared  to  fall  into  their 
place  in  the  procession ;  while  the  spectators  in  the  grounds, 
to  the  number  of  a  thousand  or  more,  were  congregated 
on  the  lawn  and  near  the  borders  of  the  carriageway. 
Outside  of  the  tall  rustic  fence  separating  the  grounds 
from  the  Common  was  an  innumerable  multitude,  many 
hundreds  of  whom  were  sintioned  in  carriages  command- 
ing a  view  of  the  proceedings  in  front  of  the  hall. 

Punctually  at  the  appointed  time  (eleven  o'clock)  the 
body  of  the  Emperor,  enclosed  in  three  coffins,  was  brought 
from  the  house  and  placed  in  the  hearse.  The  outer  coffin 
was  covered  with  purple  velvet.    There  were  three  shields 


502         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

on  this  coffin,  on  one  of  which  was  the  Imperial  Crown, 
on  another  a  Latin  cross,  and  the  third  bore  the  following 
inscription : 

NAPOLEON   III 

EMPEREUR   DES   FRANCAIS 

NE   A   PARIS 

le  20  Avril  1808 

Mort  a  Camden  Place 

Chislehurst 

le  9  Janvier  1873. 

RIP 

A  few  minutes  later  the  procession  left  Camden  Place 
and  emerged  upon  the  Common,  the  French  workmen 
in  advance,  the  tricolored  flag  in  front,  attached  not  to  a 
staff  but  to  the  freshly  broken  branch  of  a  tree.  After 
these  men  there  followed  an  abbe  having  a  golden  cross 
on  his  breast ;  next  came  a  number  of  priests  one  of  whom 
read  portions  of  the  service  for  the  dead.  Then  came  the 
hearse,  which  was  drawn  by  eight  horses,  with  plumes  on 
their  heads  and  immortelles  on  their  housings ;  and  on  each 
side  of  the  hearse  went  the  mutes,  carrying  wreaths  of  im- 
mortelles on  their  arms.  The  hearse  was  covered  over  with 
a  pall  of  black  velvet,  on  which  were  wrought  the  Imperial 
arms  of  France.  Immediately  behind  the  hearse,  and  so 
close  to  it  that  he  was  scarcely  visible,  walked  the  Prince 
Imperial,  in  simple  mourning-dress,  but  wearing  the  Grand 
Cordon  of  the  Legion  of  Honor,  bareheaded,  his  clear  blue 
eyes  fastened  upon  the  sad  object  before  him.  He  seemed 
deeply  moved,  but  his  step  was  firm.  Behind  him  was 
the  line  of  princes  of  the  House  of  Bonaparte,  in  their 
order  of  precedence,  conspicuous  among  whom  were  Prince 
Napoleon,  Prince  Lucien  Bonaparte,  Prince  Charles  Bona- 
parte, and  Prince  'Joachim  Murat.  Next  came  a  host  of 
the  personal  and  military  friends  and  political  adherents 
of  the   late  Emperor.     The   ex-Ministers  of  the   Empire 


THE    PRINCE    [MPERIAL. 
From  a  photograph  taken  by  Elliott  and  Fry  in  1878. 


DEATH    OF    THE    EMPEROR  508 

wore  the  Grand  Cordon  of  the  Legion  of  Honor ;  but,  with 
two  exceptions,  the  French  officers  did  not  appear  in  uni- 
form; they  were  in  evening-dress,  and  walked  bareheaded, 
as  did  all  in  the  procession.  Coming  immediately  after 
the  more  prominent  of  the  French  officers  and  Imperial 
statesmen  was  the  deputation  of  Italian  Generals,  sent  by 
the  King  of  Italy  to  Camden  Place  to  represent  him  on  this 
occasion.  They  wore  their  respective  green  and  gold  uni- 
forms, and  had  upon  their  breasts  numerous  decorations 
and  medals,  and  were  followed  by  the  main  body  of  the 
procession,  which  consisted  principally  of  Frenchmen — 
deputies,  councilors  of  state,  prefects,  and  others,  among 
whom  were  a  few  French  women.  The  procession  moved 
very  slowly  along  the  winding  road,  the  spectators  remain- 
ing uncovered  while  it  passed,  and  exhibiting  marks  of 
respect  and  sympathy.  It  was  indeed  a  gathering  of  the 
friends  of  the  dead  Emperor;  and  there  was  no  occasion 
for  the  services  of  the  eight  hundred  constables  that  had 
been  sent  down  from  London  to  preserve  order. 

When  the  doors  of  the  church  were  reached  it  was  half- 
past  eleven  o'clock.  The  coffin  was  then  carried  in,  and  fol- 
lowing immediately  behind  it  were  the  Prince  Imperial,  the 
Bonaparte  princes,  and  a  few  persons  closely  attached  to 
the  family.  On  account  of  the  very  limited  capacity  of  the 
church,  nearly  all  of  those  who  walked  in  the  procession 
were  obliged  to  remain  outside  the  doors  during  the  relig- 
ious ceremony,  only  one  hundred  and  eight-four  seats  hav- 
ing been  reserved  for  the  persons  who  formerly  belonged 
to  the  Maison  de  I'Empcreur,  and  for  the  chief  dignitaries 
of  the  Empire.  Many  of  these  seats  were  occupied  some 
time  before  the  arrival  of  the  funeral  cortege  by  the  ladies 
of  the  Empress'  household,  and  others,  among  whom  were 
the  Duchess  de  Malakoff,  Madame  de  St.  Arnaud,  Madame 
Rouher,  the  Duchess  de  Mouchy,  and  Madame  Canrobert. 
At  10:30  the  Princess  Clotilde  and  the  Princess  Mathilde 
had  already  taken  their  places  in  a  small  side  chapel,  where 


504 


THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 


seats  had  been  reserved  for  them.  The  ladies  were  all  in 
deep  mourning,  and  many  of  them  were  weeping. 

As  a  member  of  the  Imperial  household,  I  took  the 
place  reserved  for  me  in  the  body  of  the  building.  Look- 
ing about  me,  I  saw,  among  the  number  of  persons  whom 
I  have  not  already  mentioned,  Madame  Lebreton,  Viscoun- 
tess Aguado,  Madame  de  Saulcy,  Madame  Carette,  Made- 
moiselle de  Larminat,  the  Duchess  de  Montmorency,  the 
Countess  Clary,  the  Duchess  de  Tarente,  Countess  Wa- 
lewska,  Countess  Aguado,  Countess  Pourtales,  Princess  de 
la  Moskowa,  Princess  Poniatowski.  And  among  the  gen- 
tlemen, the  Duke  de  Tarente,  Generals  Castelnau,  Le  Brun, 
and  Frossard,  Viscount  Aguado,  Marshals  Canrobert  and 
Leboeuf,  General  le  Marquis  de  Fortou,  Viscount  Henri 
Bertrand,  General  de  Juniac,  the  Duke  de  Gramont,  M. 
Benedetti,  Baron  Haussmann,  Baron  Schneider,  Admirals 
Rigault  de  Genouilly  and  de  la  Graviere,  M.  de  Forcade 
de  la  Roquette,  Duke  de  Montmorency,  Duke  de  Feltre, 
Colonel  Stoffel,  M.  Maurice  Richard,  Marquis  de  Chasse- 
]oup  Laubat,  as  also  two  or  three  old  soldiers,  pension- 
ers of  the  Emperor,  several  of  the  Imperial  domestics, 
and  a  number  of  working  men  representing  the  delega- 
tions that  had  come  to  England  to  be  present  on  this 
occasion. 

Within  the  little  church,  the  coffin  was  placed  upon 
a  catafalque  in  the  central  space  immediately  west  of  the 
chancel.  The  Prince  Imperial  took  his  place  near  the  cata- 
falque, on  the  north  side,  and  the  princes  of  the  Imperial 
family  stood  near  him.  In  the  nave  of  the  church  the  win- 
dows were  draped  with  black  cloth,  which  was  festooned  to 
let  in  the  light.  The  windows  on  the  west  side  were  not 
draped,  but  the  daylight,  except  such  as  penetrated  through 
the  eastern  windows  of  the  nave,  was  wholly  excluded  from 
the  chancel,  which  was  hung  quite  around  with  black  cloth, 
and  illuminated  solely  by  six  tall  candles  at  the  altar,  and 
smaller  lights  on  the  ledges  below.     In  the  center  of  the 


DEATH    OF   THE    EMPEROR  505 

east  wall  a  large  cross  made  of  white  satin,  not  less  than 
six  feet  in  length,  was  hung  immediately  above  the  burn- 
ing candles ;  and  the  black  drapery  on  the  north  and  south 
sides  was  relieved  by  the  Imperial  arms,  blazoned  in  crim- 
son and  gold. 

The  Right  Rev.  Dr.  Danell,  titular  Bishop  of  South- 
wark,  assisted  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Searle,  the  former  deacon 
of  Tunbridge  Wells,  officiated  in  the  ceremony. 

The  129th  Psalm  was  read  by  the  Bishop  at  the  foot 
of  the  altar,  and  the  mass  commenced  with  the  Dies  Irce. 
The  Bishop  sang  the  preface,  which  was  followed  by  the 
Sanctus,  the  Consecration,  and  the  Elevation.  Then  came 
the  singing  of  the  Benedictus,  the  Paternoster,  and  the 
Agnus  Dei.  The  Bishop  then  received  the  communion,  and 
the  coffin  was  sprinkled  and  the  absolution  pronounced. 
After  the  absolution,  the  immortelles  and  other  floral  de- 
vices were  laid  aside,  and  the  coffin  was  carried  by  eight 
bearers  to  the  sacristy,  the  choir  singing  the  In  Paradisum, 
followed  by  the  Benedictus  and  the  Canticle.  A  few  mo- 
ments afterward  it  was  placed  in  the  vault  that  had  been 
prepared  to  receive  it ;  and  the  Prince  Imperial,  passing 
along  into  the  sacristy,  laid  upon  it  two  wreaths;  others 
of  the  family  mourners  followed,  with  floral  offerings  in 
their  hands,  till  the  coffin  was  heaped  high  and  hung 
round  with  these  funereal  tributes;  and  then  the  little 
gate  of  iron  latticework  was  closed;  and  while  the  Impe- 
rial family  and  the  mourners  were  leaving,  and  the  organ 
was  playing  the  De  Profundis,  one  by  one,  to  the  number 
of  fifteen  hundred  or  more,  most  of  those  who  had  followed 
the  dead  Emperor  to  the  chapel,  passed  by  and  sprinkled 
holy  water  upon  his  coffin  through  the  grating.  The  serv- 
ice lasted  scarcely  an  hour. 

Thus  ended  the  funeral  ceremony,  which  was  as  sad 
as  it  was  solemn  and  impressive,  the  voices  of  the  officiators 
being  mingled  with  the  sobs  of  the  women  and  the  tears 
of  the  men. 


506         THE    SECOND    FRENCH    EMPIRE 

And  could  it  well  be  otherwise,  when  we  remember  the 
career  of  him  to  whom  these  obsequies  and  this  last  homage 
were  rendered — that  almost  every  one  of  the  witnesses  of 
this  simple,  sad  service,  in  a  humble  little  church  in  a  for- 
eign land,  had  also  been  a  witness  of  the  magnificent  cere- 
monial which,  in  the  very  same  month  of  January  just 
twenty-one  years  before,  in  the  ancient  basilica  of  Notre 
Dame  de  Paris,  opened  with  splendor  and  with  such  prom- 
ise the  history  of  the  Second  French  Empire? 

The  Empress,  worn  out  with  fatigue  and  watching, 
having  sat  by  the  side  of  the  deceased  Emperor  during  the 
whole  morning,  was  not  present  at  the  service  in  the 
church,  but  remained  in  her  own  room  at  Camden  Place, 
where  a  few  of  her  friends  kept  her  company. 

The  body  of  the  Emperor  was  not  long  afterward  de- 
posited in  a  sarcophagus,  the  gift  of  Queen  Victoria,  above 
which  was  placed  the  banner  which  at  Windsor  floated 
over  his  Majesty's  stall  as  Knight  of  the  Garter. 

Tlie  King  is  Dead — Long  Live  the  King! 

At  the  end  of  the  funeral  ceremony  the  Prince  Impe- 
rial and  the  members  of  the  Bonaparte  family  and  house- 
hold returned  to  Camden  Place,  where,  in  the  principal 
drawing-room,  the  son  of  Napoleon  III.  received  in  person 
the  condolences  of  the  distinguished  men  who  had  attended 
his  father's  funeral.  And  then,  observing  the  great  con- 
course of  people,  mostly  Frenchmen,  who  had  gathered 
together  on  the  lawn  in  front  of  Camden  Place,  the  Prince, 
accompanied  by  the  Duke  de  Cambaceres,  Prince  Napoleon, 
and  others,  went  out  upon  the  steps  of  the  house  to  ac- 
knowledge this  homage  of  respect  for  the  memory  of  his 
father.  Here,  with  uncovered  heads,  he  was  received ;  many 
tears  were  shed,  and  hands  were  warmly  grasped  and  words 
of  sympathy  or  pledges  of  loyalty  given.  As  he  was  about 
to  reenter  the  hall-door,  a  workman  stepped  forward  and 


DEATH    OF    THE    EMPEROR 


507 


addressed  him,  closing  a  short  speech  with  the  words, 
"  Vive  Napoleon  IV.  !  '  Instantly  the  cry  was  repeated 
by  the  whole  assembly,  and  a  rush  was  made  toward  the 
Prince,  who  was  nearly  swept  off  his  feet  by  the  impulsive 
and  prodigious  manifestations  that  followed  of  loyalty  to 
the  Imperial  dynast}7.  At  the  very  first  viva  the  Prince 
raised  his  hand  to  stop  the  demonstration,  but  the  sight 
of  his  uplifted  hand  only  seemed  to  increase  its  force ;  and 
after  he  had  been  hurried  into  the  house  by  his  suite,  the 
cries  of  "  Vive  Napoleon  IV.  !  "  "  Vive  I'Empereiir!  " 
continued  to  be  repeated  with  an  enthusiasm  indescribable, 
and  that  appeared  to  be  inexhaustible. 

Not  long  after  this  impressive  scene,  M.  Thiers,  then 
Chef  du  Pouvoir  of  the  French  Republic — that  form  of 
government  which  he  cleverly  affirmed  "  divides  French- 
men least  " — was  heard  to  say,  "  Yes,  let  me  assure  you 
the  Republic  will  last  for  a  long  time  in  France;  but," 
added  the  author  of  the  "  History  of  the  Consulate  and 
the  Empire,"  "  were  I  to  let  you  know  all  I  think  about 
it,  I  should  tell  you  that,  were  the  Republic  to  disappear, 
the  Empire  would  be  the  only  government  the  country 
could  possibly  accept.  If  the  people  should  revive  a  dy- 
nasty, this  dynasty  would  be  the  one  they  would  choose. 
The  Napoleons  are  Democrats,  and  their  name  can  never 
be  forgotten." 


APPENDICES 


A    LETTER    FROM   THE    PRINCESS    JOSEPHINE   TO    NAPOLEON   III. 

Among  the  letters  found  in  the  cabinet  of  the  Emperor  at 
the  Tuileries,  on  the  4th  of  September,  1870,  were  a  number 
from  the  Princess  Josephine  and  her  son,  Prince  Leopold. 
Perhaps  the  most  interesting  is  one  written  by  the  Princess 
to  the  Emperor  in  June,  1866,  in  which  she  alludes  to  the 
fact,  now  forgotten,  that  it  was  under  his  "  august  protection  " 
that  the  Rumanian  nation  came  into  being,  and  solicits  the 
benevolent  interest  of  her  cousin  in  behalf  of  her  son  Charles, 
who  had  just  accepted  the  throne  offered  to  him  by  the 
Rumanians. 

"  If,  my  dear  cousin,"  she  writes,  "  I  can  let  him  go  with- 
out fear,  it  is  because  I  am  sustained  by  the  intimate  convic- 
tion that  we  can  count  upon  your  good-will,  and  that  you 
were  already  in  sympathy  with  a  resolution  that  sprang  from 
a  generous  impulse,  which  the  thought  of  the  protection  you 
always  have  given  to  the  cause  of  Rumania  sustained  and 
strengthened.  Since,  because  of  that  august  protection,  the 
guaranteeing  Powers  are  no  longer  hostile  to  my  son,  I  now 
write  to  thank  you,  my  dear  cousin,  and  to  solicit  for  him 
your  advice  and  your  support.  I  beg  of  you  to  assist  him — 
to  sustain  him  in  the  task,  doubtlc^  very  difficult,  to  which 
he  has  given  himself  with  all  the  ardor  of  his  young  heart. 
Permit  me  to  add  to  my  prayer  the  assurance  that  he  would 
not  have  taken  this  decision  had  he  not  been  absolutely  con- 
vinced that  it  would  not  be  displeasing  to  you.  This  was  the 
opinion  of  the  Rumanians  themselves.  They  are  under  too 
many  obligations  to  you  to  have  persisted,  as  thoy  have  done, 
in  their  resolution,  had  they  had  any  reason  to  fear  that  it 
34  509 


510  APPENDICES 

would  have  met  with  your  disapprobation.  For  a  long  time 
I  have  cherished  the  hope  of  coming  to  Paris,  and  of  commend- 
ing to  you  my  good  son  Charles  more  warmly  than  I  can  by 
writing  to  you.  I  had  it  so  much  in  heart  to  pay  my  respects 
to  her  Majesty  the  Empress,  and  to  thank  her  for  all  the 
kindnesses  which  she,  as  well  as  you,  condescended  to  extend 
so  generously  to  Antoinette  and  Leopold  during  their  visit 
to  the  Tuileries.  In  offering  to  you  the  expression  of  my 
lively,  of  my  profound  gratitude,  I  could  have  spoken  to  you 
of  my  maternal  solicitude,  of  the  hopes  we  have  placed  in 
you — in  your  unremitting  kindnesses.  Unfortunately,  I  am 
compelled  to  give  up  that  which  would  have  made  me  so  happy, 
for  we  are  in  the  midst  of  a  war  of  which  we  are  unable  to 
measure  the  dimensions.  Charles  has  the  sad  task  of  being 
obliged  to  defend  the  provinces  of  the  Rhine  and  Westphalia 
against  South  Germany.  He  joins  with  me  in  begging  you 
to  find  in  these  lines  the  assurance  of  the  kind  feelings  with 
which  we  are  imbued,  and  to  be  so  good  as  to  have  her  Majesty 
the  Empress  accept  it  as  our  homage.  We  venture  to  hope 
that  she  will  give  her  support  to  my  people  when  speaking 
to  you. 

"  It  is  with  the  tenderest  affection  that  I  am  forever,  my 
dear  cousin,  your  very  devoted  cousin, 

"  Josephine."  * 

These  expressions  of  political  consideration  and  assurances 
of  gratitude  and  kind  feeling  were  perhaps  sincere  when  ut- 
tered; but  four  years  later  they  would  seem  to  have  been  for- 
gotten or  unheeded.  If  princes  have  not  always  short  memo- 
ries, a  political  end  or  raison  d'etat  is  apt  to  count  with  them 
far  more  than  ties  of  family  or  personal  obligations  for  past 
favors  or  services. 

II 

THE    FAMILY    OF    THE   EMPRESS 

Marie  Eugenie  de  Guzman,  Countess  de  Teba,  was  born  in 
Granada,  Spain,  on  May  5,  1826,  and  is  the  daughter  of  Don 

*  "  L'Allemange  aux  Tuileries,"  par  Henri  Bordier,  Librairie  M.  L. 
Beauvais,  1872,  pp.  175,  176. 


APPENDICES  511 

Cipriano  Guzman  Palafox  y  Porto  Carrero,  Count  de  Teba, 
and  of  Maria  Manuela  Kirkpatrick.  The  house  of  Guzman  is 
one  of  the  most  illustrious  in  Spanish  history,  and  the  stoical 
loyalty  to  his  king  of  Don  Alfonso  Perez  de  Guzman,  who  in 
1291  permitted  his  son  to  be  decapitated  by  the  Moors  rather 
than  surrender  the  citadel  of  Talifa,  has  been  immortalized  by 
Lope  de  Vega. 

Mademoiselle  Eugenie  was  a  grand-niece  of  Alfonso  X., 
and  in  the  seventeenth  century  a  Guzman  married  the  Duke 
of  Braganza,  afterward  King  Juan  IV.  of  Portugal.  The  fam- 
ilies of  Las  Torres,  Medina-Coeli,  and  Olivares  are  also  related 
to  the  house  of  Porto  Carrero,  Counts  de  Montijo,  through  the 
Guzmans. 

The  mother  of  the  Empress  Eugenie  was  the  daughter  of 
Franchise  de  Grivegnee  and  William  Kirkpatrick.  The  Grive- 
gnees  were  originally  from  Liege,  but  had  long  resided  in 
Spain.  Her  father,  Mr.  Kirkpatrick,  was  born  in  Dumfries, 
Scotland.  He  was  a  member  of  a  family  devoted  to  the  cause 
of  the  Stuarts,  and,  for  political  reasons,  emigrated  to  America 
just  before  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  Remaining  there, 
however,  but  a  short  time,  he  went  to  Spain,  where  he  soon 
became  associated  in  business  with  his  future  father-in-law, 
a  wealthy  merchant  of  Malaga.  Having  been  for  a  great  many 
years  the  United  States  consul  at  this  port,  Mr.  Kirkpatrick 
was  personally  well  known  to  many  Americans  who  had  occa- 
sion to  visit  Spain  during  and  immediately  after  the  time 
when  he  represented  our  Government  in  an  official  capacity. 

How  Mr.  Kirkpatrick  came  to  receive  this  appointment  is 
set  forth  in  the  following  letter  addressed  to  President  Wash- 
ington by  George  Cabot,  United  States  Senator  from  Massa- 
chusetts : 

"Beverley,  January  28,  1791. 
"Sir:  Mr.  William  Kirkpatrick,  a  member  of  the  house  of 
Messieurs  Grivegnee  &  Co.,  of  Malaga,  wishes  to  have  the  honor 
of  serving  the  United  States  in  the  character  of  consul  for 
that  port.  Should  it  be  thought  expedient  to  institute  such 
an  office,  it  may  be  found  that  Mr.  Kirkpat  rick's  situation,  as 
well  as  talents  and  dispositions,  peculiarly  enable  him  to  fill 
it  with  propriety.     Permit  me,  therefore,  sir,  to  request  that, 


512  APPENDICES 

when  the  qualifications  of  candidates  are  under  your  exami- 
nation, his  also  may  be  considered. 

"  If  any  apology  is  necessary  for  this  freedom,  I  hope  it 
may  not  be  deemed  insufficient  that,  having  been  led  by  my 
profession  to  make  frequent  visits  to  Spain,  among  other  in- 
timacies I  formed  one  with  the  principals  of  the  commercial 
establishment  to  which  Mr.  Kirkpatrick  belongs;  that  these 
have  desired  my  testimony  on  this  occasion,  and  that  my 
experience  of  their  integrity  and  their  friendship  to  the  peo- 
ple of  this  country  constrains  me  to  think  well  of  a  gentleman 
they  recommend,  and  to  confide  in  one  for  whose  faithfulness 
they  are  willing  to  be  responsible. 

"  I  am,  with  the  most  profound  respect,  sir,  your  most 
faithful  and  obedient  servant,  George  Cabot. 

"The  President  of  the  United  States." 

Another  distinguished  American  has  written  still  more 
interestingly  of  Mr.  Kirkpatrick.  Washington  Irving,  in  a 
letter  addressed,  in  1853,  to  Mrs.  Pierre  M.  Irving,  says : 

"  I  believe  I  have  told  you  that  I  knew  the  grandfather  of 
the  Empress — old  Mr.  Kirkpatrick,  who  had  been  American 
Consul  at  Malaga.  I  passed  an  evening  at  his  house  in  1827, 
near  Adra,  on  the  west  of  the  Mediterranean.  A  week  or  two 
after  I  was  at  the  house  of  his  son-in-law,  the  Count  Teba, 
at  Granada — a  gallant,  intelligent  gentleman,  much  cut  up  in 
the  wars,  having  lost  an  eye  and  been  maimed  in  a  leg  and 
hand.  His  wife,  the  daughter  of  Mr.  Kirkpatrick,  was  absent, 
but  he  had  a  family  of  little  girls,  mere  children,  about  him. 
The  youngest  of  these  must  have  been  the  present  Empress. 
Several  years  afterwards,  when  I  had  recently  taken  up  my 
abode  in  Madrid,  I  was  invited  to  a  grand  ball  at  the  house 
of  the  Countess  Montijo,  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  ton.  On 
making  my  bow  to  her,  I  was  surprised  at  being  received  by 
her  with  the  warmth  and  eagerness  of  an  old  friend.  She 
claimed  me  as  the  friend  of  her  late  husband,  the  Count  Teba 
(subsequently  Marquis  Montijo),  who,  she  said,  had  often 
spoken  of  me  with  the  greatest  regard.  She  took  me  into  an- 
other room  and  showed  me  a  miniature  of  the  Count,  such 
as  I  had  known  him  with  a  black  patch  over  one  eye.     She  sub- 


APPENDICES  513 

sequently   introduced  me  to   the   little  girls   I   had   known   at 
Granada — now  fashionable  belles  at  Madrid. 

"  After  this  I  was  frequently  at  her  house,  which  was  one 
of  the  gayest  in  the  capital.  The  Countess  and  her  daughters 
all  spoke  English.  The  eldest  daughter  was  married,  while 
I  was  in  Madrid,  to  the  Duke  of  Alva  and  Berwick,  the  lineal 
successor  to  the  pretender  to  the  British  Crown.  The  other 
now  sits  on  the  throne  of  France." 

Of  the  mother  of  the  Empress,  Mr.  George  Ticknor,  the 
author  of  the  "  History  of  Spanish  Literature,"  writes,  in 
1818,  as  follows: 

"  I  knew  Madame  de  Teba  in  Madrid,  when  she  was  there 
on  a  visit  last  summer;  and  from  what  I  saw  of  her  then  and 
here  (Malaga),  where  I  saw  her  every  day,  I  do  not  doubt  she 
is  the  most  cultivated  and  the  most  interesting  woman  in 
Spain.  Young  and  beautiful,  educated  strictly  and  faithfully 
by  her  mother — who  for  this  purpose  carried  her  to  London 
and  Paris,  and  kept  her  there  between  six  and  seven  years — 
possessing  extraordinary  talents,  and  giving  an  air  of  orig- 
inality to  all  she  says  and  does,  she  unites,  in  a  most  bewitch- 
ing manner,  the  Andalusian  grace  and  frankness  to  a  French 
facility  in  her  manners  and  a  genuine  English  thoroughness 
in  her  knowledge  and  accomplishments.  She  knows  the  five 
chief  modern  languages  well,  and  feels  their  different  char- 
acters, and  estimates  their  literatures  aright.  She  has  the  for- 
eign accomplishments  of  singing,  playing,  painting,  etc.,  and 
the  national  one  of  dancing,  in  a  high  degree.  In  conversation 
she  is  brilliant  and  original ;  and  yet  with  all  this  she  is  a  true 
Spaniard,  and  as  full  of  Spanish  feelings  as  she  is  of  talent 
and  culture." 

Ill 

THE   EMPEROr's   FORTUNE 

On  account  of  the  currency  given  to  reports  that  the  Em- 
peror had  amassed  and  left  an  enormous  private  fortune,  soon 


514  APPENDICES 

after  his  death  the  solicitors  of  the   Empress  addressed   the 
following  communication  to  the  press: 

"  Incorrect  statements  having  repeatedly  appeared  in  both 
English  and  foreign  newspapers  regarding  the  will  of  the  late 
Emperor  Napoleon,  we  think  it  right,  as  solicitors  for  the  ad- 
ministratrix, to  state  that  all  such  rumors  as  have  hitherto 
been  published  are  without  authority  and  inaccurate.  Un- 
avoidable circumstances  have  occasioned  some  delay  in  the 
publication  of  the  will,  but  letters  of  administration  cum 
testamento  annexo  have  now  been  applied  for,  and,  in  order 
to  avoid  the  possibility  of  further  misrepresentation,  we  are 
authorized  to  transmit  to  you  a  copy  of  the  will  for  publi- 
cation.    .     .     . 

"  The  estate  has  been  sworn  under  £120,000 ;  but  it  is  right 
to  state  that  this  sum  is  subject  to  claims  which  will  reduce 
the  amount  actually  received  by  the  administratrix  to  about 
one-half  of  the  sum  named. 

[Signed]  "  Markby,  Parry  &  Stewart, 

"  April  27th.  37  Coleman  Street,  E.  C." 


IV 


SPEECH    OF    LORD    BROUGHAM 

"  London,  6  Grafton  Street,  June  12,  1864. 
"  My  dear  Dr.  Evans  : 

"  I  hope  your  countrymen  will  be  satisfied  with  my  eulogy 
of  them  the  other  day  in  the  Lords.    It  was  so  inaccurately 
given  in  most  of  the  papers,  that  I  shall  send  you  an  accurate 
account  of  it,  which  I  shall  have  in  a  few  days. 
"  Believe  me,  most  sincerely  yours, 

"  H.  Brougham." 

"  The  Accurate  Account  " 

"  Lord  Brougham,  in  rising  to  second  the  motion,  wished 
to  make  a  few  observations  on  some  parts  of  his  noble  friend's 
(Lord  Clanricarde's)  statements.    No  one  could  lament  more 


APPENDICES  515 

deeply  than  lie  did,  not  only  the  cruel  and  calamitous  civil 
war  which  had  been  waging  for  the  last  three  years  in  America, 
but  the  conduct  of  many  of  our  countrymen  in  joining  in  this 
dreadful  contest,  more  particularly  those  who  came  from  that 
part  of  the  country  to  which  his  noble  friend  belonged,  and 
who,  he  lamented  to  say,  had  in  great  numbers  entered  the 
Federal  army.  He  highly  disapproved  of  the  conduct  of  the 
Federal  Government  not  only  in  the  attempt  which  they  began 
but  could  not  cany  out,  to  establish  depots  for  raising  foreign 
recruits,  but  he  disapproved  as  entirely  of  their  taking  men 
— even  if  they  did  not  inveigle  them  by  the  tricks  which  had 
been  described — taking  them  even  when  the  men  honestly  en- 
tered, and  entered  knowing  what  they  were  doing,  even  though 
not  deceived  by  crimps  and  deluded  under  the  influence  of 
strong  liquor.  The  men  were  told  they  were  going  merely  to 
labor  in  the  fields,  and  after  they  were  there  they  were  told 
there  was  no  work  for  them,  and  they  were  asked,  '  Will  you 
please  come  into  the  army  ? '  But  even  suppose  the  most  hon- 
est and  fair  contract  made  between  these  Irishmen  and  the 
recruiting  officers  of  the  Federal  Government,  he  still  disap- 
proved of  the  course  they  had  adopted.  What  was  their  com- 
plaint against  us?  That  we  were  not  sufficiently  neutral — 
that  we  did  not  hold  the  balance  even  between  the  two  parties, 
Federals  and  Confederates.  Both  parties  in  America,  he  be- 
lieved, complained  of  us  in  this  respect;  but  could  there  be 
a  more  open  infraction  of  neutrality  than  the  conduct  of  those 
who  compel  the  poor  Irish  immigrants  to  enter  their  service, 
or  who  take  them  into  their  service?  They  were  taking  men  into 
their  service  who  were  guilty  of  an  offense  punishable  severely 
in  this  country.  These  men  were  criminals.  The  crime  of 
which  they  were  guilty  had  lately  been  made  a  misdemeanor 
by  the  Foreign  Enlistment  Act;  but  in  (lie  reign  of  George 
II.  it  was  felony,  and  at  one  time  it  was  a  capital  Felony. 
The  men  were  still  criminals,  and  the  Federal  (!"Yenunent 
employed  men  knowing  them  to  be  criminals  [illegible]  into 
their  service.  Time  was  when  those  same  Americana  com- 
plained bitterly  of  our  employing  foreign  troops  to  subdue 
them — to  do  the  very  same  thing  toward  them  which  the  Fed- 
erals were  now  doing  toward   the  Confederal   -     endeavoring 


516  APPENDICES 

to  restore  trie  Union — that  was  to  conquer,  or  attempting  to 
conquer,  the  Confederates  by  foreign  troops.  In  the  drafts 
to  supply  the  enormous  demands  which  this  most  lamentable 
war  had  made — he  believed  not  less  than  six  hundred  thousand 
in  the  course  of  the  last  two  years — they  took  no  regiments 
or  corps,  but  thousands  of  persons  from  Germany,  and,  he 
grieved  to  say,  hundreds,  at  least,  from  Ireland.  The  Germans 
formed  a  great  part  of  their  resources  to  supply  the  blanks 
which  this  cruel  war  had  made.  These  Americans  complained 
of  our  conduct  in  1778;  and  the  worst  thing  they  considered 
we  did,  in  attempting  their  conquest,  was  the  employment  of 
Hessian  and  other  German  regiments  in  the  course  of  the 
war.  The  eloquence  of  Mr.  Burke  and  of  Lord  Chatham  made 
the  walls  of  Parliament  ring  with  complaints  of  the  German 
mercenaries  being  taken  into  the  pay  of  the  Government  for 
the  purpose  of  subduing  America.  Now  these  Americans  were 
doing  the  selfsame  thing,  not  by  taking  corps,  but  thousands 
of  individuals  who  are  foreigners,  into  their  service,  and  em- 
ploying them  against  the  Confederates. 

"  Would  that  his  voice,  which  he  feared  hardly  reached 
across  the  House,  could  reach  across  the  Atlantic,  that  he 
might  in  all  kindness  and  respect  remind  his  old  friends  and 
clients,  for  whom  he  in  times  past  had  stood  the  champion, 
defending  their  actions,  exalting  their  character,  so  that  he 
was  represented  as  setting  them  down  above  his  own  country- 
men, when  he  used  to  be  called  the  Attorney-General  of  Mad- 
ison, the  tool  of  the  Jeffersons  and  Monroes.  He  now  implored 
them  to  listen  to  his  friend's  declarations  that  they  had  done 
enough  for  glory  and  fame,  had  shown  their  boundless  forti- 
tude, their  unsurpassed  courage,  their  endless  sacrifices,  not 
more  careless  of  the  lives  of  others  than  of  their  own.  Let 
them  be  well  assured  that  there  is  but  one  feeling  all  over 
Europe  of  reprobation  of  the  accursed,  unnatural  civil  war,  of 
sorrow  for  their  sufferings  under  it,  and  of  deep  desire  for 
the  restoration  of  peace  to  bless  the  New  World  and  to  gratify 
the  sympathies  of  the  Old.  This  was  no  time  for  intervention, 
which  might  do  harm  and  could  be  productive  of  no  good. 
He  had  refused  to  present  petitions  from  many  considerable 
bodies   anxious  for  that  interference,   as  affording  a   hope  of 


APPENDICES  517 

peace.  He  had  refused  to  present  them  as  inopportune.  But 
he  had  a  fervent  hope  that  the  occasion  might  before  long 
arrive  when  this  country,  and  her  peaceful  ally  across  the 
Channel,  under  a  wise  ruler,  anxious  for  America's  peace, 
would  do  good  by  offering  their  mediation  between  the  con- 
tending parties,  aiding  them  in  arriving  at  just  and  reason- 
able terms,  restoring  the  fruit  of  blessings  to  all  nations,  a 
tranquil  and  independent  existence,  with  the  establishment  of 
universal  prosperity  and  the  uninterrupted  progress  of  social 
improvement." 

,v 

THE    FALSIFIED    DESPATCH 

The  history  of  this  despatch,  briefly  stated,  is  as  follows: 
The  French  Government  was  informed  on  July  12th  by  the 
Spanish  Ambassador,  that  the  candidature  of  Prince  Leopold 
had  been  withdrawn  by  his  father,  Prince  Antoine.  On  the 
same  day  the  Duke  de  Gramont,  in  making  the  announcement 
to  M.  Benedetti,  said : 

"  In  order  that  the  renunciation  should  produce  its  full 
effect,  it  would  seem  necessary  that  the  King  of  Prussia 
should  associate  himself  with  it,  and  give  a  full  assurance 
that  he  will  not  authorize  it  should  it  come  up  again." 

On  the  following  day,  in  accordance  with  his  instructions, 
M.  Benedetti — the  King  coming  forward  to  greet  him  as  he 
was  walking  on  the  promenade  at  Ems — took  the  occasion  to 
inform  the  King  that  his  Government  desired  to  have  some 
assurance  from  him  that  the  candidature  of  Prince  Leopold 
would  not  be  brought  up  again  with  his  Majesty's  consent. 
Without  making  any  promises,  the  King,  at  the  close  of  the 
interview,  told  M.  Benedetti  that  he  was  expecting  every  mo- 
ment letters  from  Sigmaringen,  and  that  as  soon  as  he  had 
received   them  he  would  send  for  him. 

But  during  the  course  of  the  day  the  King  received  des- 
patches from  M.  de  Werther,  his  ambassador  at  Paris,  which 
displeased  him;  and,  about  four  oVlock,  he  sent  one  of  his 
aides   to   the  French  ambassador  to   inform   him   that,   while 


518  APPENDICES 

the  King  approved  of  the  withdrawal  of  the  candidature,  with 
respect  to  the  future  he  could  only  repeat  what  he  had  already 
said.  An  hour  later,  on  asking  for  the  promised  interview, 
M.  Benedetti  received  from  one  of  his  Majesty's  secretaries 
a  formal  but  perfectly  courteous  note,  in  which  the  King  ex- 
pressed his  regret  that  he  was  really  unable  to  say  anything 
more  on  the  subject  than  he  had  said  during  their  interview 
that  morning. 

In  reporting  these  proceedings  to  the  North-German  Chan- 
cellor— proceedings  in  which,  as  M.  Benedetti  has  said,  "  No 
one  was  either  insulting  or  insulted" — the  Counselor  Abeken 
sent,  in  the  name  of  the  King,  the  following  despatch: 

"Ems,  July  13th,  1870,  3:50  p.m. 
"  Count  Benedetti  met  me  to-day  on  the  promenade.  He 
requested  me  very  urgently  to  promise  never  to  authorize  a 
new  Hohenzollern  candidature.  I  proved  to  him  in  the  most 
positive  manner  that  it  was  impossible  to  make  in  this  way 
engagements  forever  binding.  Naturally,  I  added  that  up  to 
the  present  time  I  had  received  nothing,  and  that,  since  he  was 
thus  informed  sooner  by  the  way  of  Paris  and  Madrid,  it  was 
clearly  evident  that  my  Government  was  out  of  the  question." 
To  these  words  of  the  King  the  Counselor  added,  that  the 
King  had  since  received  a  letter  from  the  Prince  confirming 
the  announcement  of  the  renunciation,  but  that  the  King  had 
concluded  to  inform  M.  Benedetti  of  this  through  an  aide-de- 
camp, and  not  to  see  him  personally  on  account  of  his  claim, 
having  nothing  more  to  say,  ending  the  despatch  as  follows : 
"  His  Majesty  leaves  it  entirely  to  your  Excellency  to  decide 
if  this  new  requirement,  and  the  refusal  it  has  met  with, 
should  be  communicated  to  the  Embassies  and  to  the  Press." 

This  despatch  reached  Count  Bismarck  about  five  o'clock, 
when  he  was  dining  with  Generals  von  Moltke  and  von  Boon. 
"  On  reading  it,"  says  Bismarck,  "  my  guests  were  so  discour- 
aged that  they  could  neither  eat  nor  drink."  The  despatch, 
if  it  indicated  relations  still  strained,  announced  no  rupture; 
peace  might  be  expected.  The  despatch  was  read  over  and 
over  and  commented  upon.     Finally  Bismarck  said:  "I  think 


APPENDICES  519 

I  can  fix  it.  The  King  leaves  me  entirely  at  liberty  to  com- 
municate this  information  to  the  Press.  It  will  only  be  nec- 
essary to  paraphrase  it  a  little — to  make  a  few  suppressions, 
to  slightly  change  the  tone."  Thereupon  he  sat  down  and  wrote 
out  the  following  communication,  to  be  sent  officially  to  the 
Embassies  and  the  Press: 

"  The  news  of  the  renunciation  of  the  hereditary  Prince 
of  Hohenzollern  has  been  officially  communicated  to  the  French 
Imperial  Government  by  the  Royal  Government  of  Spain. 
The  French  ambassador  has  since,  at  Ems,  addressed  to  his 
Majesty  the  King  the  demand  that  he  be  authorized  to  tele- 
graph to  Paris  that  his  Majesty  the  King  pledges  himself  for- 
ever not  to  permit  this  candidature  to  be  brought  up  again. 
Whereupon  his  Majesty  has  refused  to  see  the  ambassador 
again,  and  has  informed  him,  through  his  aide-de-camp-in- 
waiting,  that  he  has  nothing  more  to  communicate  to  him." 

Then  he  read  to  his  guests  the  text  he  had  prepared.  They 
were  delighted.  "  It  sounds  now,"  said  Moltke,  "  like  a  provo- 
cation given  with  a  blast  of  trumpets."  "  You  see,"  said 
Bismarck,  "  it  is  essential  that  we  should  be  the  ones  who 
are  attacked.  Now,  if  I  send  this  text  to  the  newspapers,  and 
to  all  our  ambassadors,  it  will  soon  be  known  in  Paris,  and, 
not  only  on  account  of  what  it  says,  but  from  the  way  in 
which  it  will  have  been  spread  about,  will  produce  down  there 
upon  the  French  bull  the  effect  of  a  red  flag."  And  everybody 
knows  that  it  did  have  exactly  the  effect  intended  and  expected. 

The  reader  will  observe  that  King  William  had  not  refused 
to  see  M.  Benedetti,  but  had  only  informed  him  that  on  the  sub- 
ject of  guarantees  he  had  nothing  more  to  say  than  he  had 
already  said.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  M.  Benedetti  was  received  by 
the  King  on  the  following  day,  July  14th,  at  the  railway  sta- 
tion, when  his  Majesty  was  about  to  leave  Ems  for  Coblenz. 

A  great  deal  has  been  said  about  "the  rashness"  of  the 
request  addressed  to  King  William  after  the  renunciation  of 
Prince  Leopold  had  been  officially  communicated  to  the  French 
Foreign  Office.  But  in  reality  this  request  only  became  im- 
portant, in  the  chain  of  events  that  led  to  the  declaration  of 
war,  after  Count  Bismarck  seized  upon  it  as  the  pretext  fur 
a  Macchiavellian  invention — the  alleged  insult   to  the  French 


520  APPENDICES 

Government.  The  Hohenzollern  candidature  had  apparently 
been  settled  once  before,  in  April,  1870;  and  having  again 
been  brought  up,  and  a  second  time  renounced,  in  the  course 
of  three  months,  however  inexpedient  it  may  now  seem  to  have 
been  to  raise  the  question,  it  was  then  only  natural  that  the 
Imperial  Government  should  wish  to  have  some  assurance  that 
this  irritating  affair  might  be  considered  as  finally  disposed 
of.  Nor  was  the  request  made  in  a  way  to  imply  that  such 
an  assurance  was  a  condition  indispensable  to  the  maintenance 
of  friendly  relations  between  the  two  governments. 


VI 


CONCERNING  THE  REORGANIZATION  OF  THE  ARMY 

M.  Emile  Ollivier,  on  being  offered  by  Walewski  a  min- 
istry in  the  Imperial  Government,  made  it  a  condition  that 
this  project  of  reorganizing  the  army  should  be  abandoned. 
When  shortly  afterward,  on  the  10th  of  January,  1867,  he  had 
his  first  personal  interview  with  the  Emperor,  after  a  few  words 
of  salutation  the  conversation,  as  reported  by  M.  Ollivier  in 
the  ninth  volume  of  his  "  L'Empire  Liberal,"  opened  as  fol- 
lows: 

" '  Endeavor,'  said  I,  '  by  all  possible  means,  for  the  time 
being  at  least,  to  keep  the  reorganization  of  the  army  within 
the  limits  of  the  budget  and  of  its  present  strength.'  To 
which  the  Emperor  replied :  '  A  serious  reorganization  is  in- 
dispensable; the  necessity  for  this  was  made  apparent  to  me 
in  Italy.  It  was  the  smallness  of  our  army  and  the  impossibil- 
ity of  having  another  on  the  Rhine  which  forced  upon  me  the 
treaty  of  Villafranca.  How  is  it  possible  to  rest  inert  after 
the  lessons  of  the  last  war  [the  Austro-Prussian  War  of  1866]  ? 
I  know  that  my  project  is  unpopular,  but  we  must  learn  to 
bravely  face  unpopularity  when  it  is  necessary  to  do  our  duty.' 
I  did  not  deny  the  necessity  of  a  serious  reorganization  of  our 
military  mechanism,  only  I  added :  '  Your  Majesty  has  real- 
ized the  most  urgent  of  these  reforms  by  adopting  the  chasse- 
pot;  there  are  others  not  less  necessary,  which,  according  to 
those  who  are  competent  to  speak  on  these  subjects,  should  be 


APPENDICES  521 

introduced  into  our  tactics,  our  method  of  mobilization,  and 
our  supply  department;  but  cannot  all  this  be  done  without 
touching  our  organic  law  of  recruitment  ?  Two  days  ago,  at 
your  cousin's,  I  listened  to  a  conversation  between  Niel, 
Trochu,  and  Lebrun,  whose  conclusion  was  that  on  account 
of  the  length  of  our  military  service  and  our  system  of  re- 
serves, which  could  be  still  further  improved,  and  the  elasticity 
of  the  active  force,  our  army  possessed  a  solidity  which  the 
Prussian  system,  more  democratic  but  less  military,  would 
weaken.'  This  the  Emperor  would  not  admit.  ITe  maintained 
that  numbers  would  have  henceforth  in  war  an  importance 
that  would  prove  decisive;  that  the  present  organization  gave 
us  no  assurance  of  this,  and  that  assurance  on  this  point  was 
absolutely  necessary." 

On  the  following  day,  at  the  Emperor's  request,  M.  Ollivier 
saw  the  Empress  and  again  offered  his  objections  to  an  in- 
crease of  the  army.  Of  this  interview  he  writes:  "With  a 
very  exact  knowledge  of  the  subject,  and  with  real  eloquence, 
she  explained  to  me  that  a  reform  was  urgent;  that  it  had 
been  put  off  already  too  long;  that  she  had  been  convinced  on 
this  subject  since  1859.  '  In  view  of  an  attack  on  the  Rhine,' 
said  she,  '  my  uncle  Jerome  wished  me  then  to  sign  a  decree 
calling  out  three  hundred  thousand  National  Guards.  Not- 
withstanding a  majority  of  the  Ministers  were  of  his  opinion,  I 
was  unwilling  to  sign  at  this  time,  in  the  presence  of  Europe,  a 
confession  of  our  military  impotency.  Thereupon  my  uncle 
arose,  and  said  to  me,  "You  are  losing  France;  you  are  expo- 
sing us  to  an  invasion."  "  In  any  event,"  I  replied,  "  I  shall 
not  fly  from  before  the  enemy,  as  Marie  Louise  did — even,  my 
uncle,  were  you  to  advise  me  to  do  so." 

"'I  wrote  to  the  Emperor,  and  the  peace  of  Villafranca 
was  signed.  We  should  take  care  that  we  do  not  find  our- 
selves some  day  in  a  similar  situation.' ' 

These  conversations,  in  the  light  of  subsequent  event-. 
show  how  clearly  both  the  Emperor  and  the  Empress  under- 
stood the  military  needs  of  France,  and  that  they  distinctly 
foresaw  the  serious  risks  that  would  be  incurred  in  the  evenl 
of  a  war  with  any  great  Power,  unless  the  army  was  consid- 
erably increased. 


522  APPENDICES 


VII 


THE  LOYALTY  OF  GENERAL  TROCHU 

Doubts  with  respect  to  the  loyalty  of  General  Trochu,  that 
were  suggested  especially  by  a  letter  published  in  the  Temps 
under  his  signature,  almost  immediately  after  he  had  assumed 
the  duties  of  his  office,  caused  the  Council  of  Ministers  to 
request  one  of  their  number  to  say  to  the  General,  at  a  meeting 
of  the  Council,  that  an  explanation  from  him  on  this  point 
was  desirable.  The  General  having  answered  equivocally,  the 
Minister  again  put  the  question  categorically,  and  in  the  pres- 
ence of  the  Empress  and  the  Council.  General  Trochu  then 
answered  as  follows :  "  I  am  astonished  that  any  one  should 
persist  in  asking  such  a  question  of  a  French  general.  In 
accepting  the  functions  of  Governor  of  Paris,  I  was  confronted 
by  the  supposition  that  the  dynasty  or  the  Assembly  might  be 
threatened.  Should  this  happen,  I  reply  on  my  old  Breton 
faith,  that,  to  defend  the  dynasty  I  will  come  and  die  on  the 
steps  of  the  Tuileries."  To  this  burst  of  devotion  the  Em- 
press answered :  "  Think  first  of  saving  France.  I  know  what 
may  happen  to  the  dynasty.  As  for  myself,  I  wish  to  retire 
worthily."  At  the  close  of  the  sitting,  General  Trochu  said 
to  M.  David,  speaking  of  the  Empress  and  her  last  words: 
"  This  woman  is  admirable.  She  is  a  Roman.  I  am  greatly 
impressed  by  her  bearing  and  by  her  conduct.  I  am  entirely 
devoted  to  her."  "  May  I  repeat  to  her  what  you  tell  me  ? " 
said  M.  David.     "  Certainly,"  replied  General  Trochu.* 

M.  Magne,  Minister  of  Finance  in  the  Cabinet  of  the  Regent, 
when  called  as  a  witness  in  the  case  of  Trochu  vs.  Villemessant 
said: 

"  On  a  certain  occasion  General  Trochu  told  the  Council 
that  he  had  made  a  speech  to  the  officers  of  a  battalion  of  the 
National  Guard,  and  that  he  thought  it  to  be  his  duty  to 
represent  to  them  the  dangers,  the  privations,  and  the  suffer- 
ings to  which  they  were  about  to  find  themselves  exposed;  that 

*  Deposition  de  M.  Jules  Brame.  "Enquete  Parlementaire,"  tome 
i,  p.  201. 


APPENDICES  523 

he  told  them,  at  the  same  time,  that  it  would  require  great 
firmness  of  character  to  resist  the  emotion  which  one  must  feel 
on  seeing  his  comrades,  his  friends,  and  sometimes  his  chil- 
dren, falling  about  him.  He  said,  moreover,  at  this  moment 
the  officers  of  the  battalion,  who  had  appeared  at  first  very- 
resolute,  seemed  to  be  deeply  impressed  by  the  words  which 
they  had  heard. 

"  On  hearing  this,  the  Empress  straightened  up,  as  if  moved 
by  a  spring,  and  said:  '  What,  General — you  said  that  to  them! 
But  then,  on  whom  are  we  to  count  ?  Very  well.  If  the  Prus- 
sians come,  I  will  go  myself  upon  the  ramparts,  and  there 
I  will  show  how  a  woman  can  face  danger,  when  it  is  a  ques- 
tion of  her  country's  safety.' 

"  The  General  replied  that  his  words  had  been  misunder- 
stood; that  the  officei-s  of  the  battalion  were  full  of  devotion, 
and  that  they  could  be  counted  upon  absolutely.  The  words 
which  I  have  just  cited  were  certainly  pronounced  either  at  the 
time  mentioned  or  at  another.  The  General  added :  '  Madame, 
there  is  only  one  way  of  proving  to  you  my  devotion;  it  is 
for  me  to  get  killed,  should  it  be  necessary  for  your  Majesty's 
safety  and  that  of  the  dynasty.' 

"  This  is  what  I  heard,  and  I  think  [turning  to  Gem-ral 
Trochu,  who  was  present]  that  the  General  himself  remembers 
it."     Whereupon  General  Trochu  made  a  sign  of  assent.* 

VIII 

EXTRACTS  FROM  OFFICIAL  REPORTS  OF  THE  FRENCH  GOVERNMENT 

"  Among  the  members  of  the  Corps  Ugislatif  whom  the 
triumphant  insurrection  carried  to  the  Hotel  de  Villc,  there 
is  not  a  single  one  who  has  not  disavowed  any  participation 
whatsoever  in  the  invasion  of  the  Assembly.  There  is  not  one 
who  has  not  declared  himself  an  absolute  stranger  to  the  work 
of  preparing  the  blow  by  means  of  which  the  national  represen- 
tation was  overthrown.  MM.  J.  I'avre,  J.  Simon,  J.  Ferry. 
Pelletan,  Gamier  Pages,  Em.  Arago,  Gambetta,  all  except  M. 
de  Keratry,  speak  in  the  same  terms  of  this  matter.    .     .     . 

*  "  L'Empire  et  la  Defense  de  Paris,"  par  le  General  Trochu,  p.  85. 


5U  APPExNDICES 

"  If,  during  the  night  of  September  3d  and  4th,  incited  by 
the  news  from  Sedan,  a  manifestation  was  resolved  upon,  the 
deputies  of  the  Opposition  declare  that  this  resolution  was 
taken  without  their  cooperation  and  quite  outside  of  them. 

"  Following  tbe  very  wise  advice  that  M.  Thiers  had  given 
them,  far  from  participating  in  this  movement,  they  sought, 
they  say,  to  hold  it  in  check.  They  struggled  hard,  but  they 
were  unable  to  resist  the  current,  and  were  compelled  them- 
selves to  submit  to  the  impulse  which  they  had  not  given. 
Carried  off  by  the  crowd,  they  put  themselves  at  its  head,  and 
associated  themselves  with  an  act  which  they  had  not  wished, 
after  that  act  had  become  an  accomplished  fact. 

"  The  leaders  of  the  insurrection  of  September  4th — if  one 
is  to  believe  these  witnesses — are  not  to  be  found  among  the 
members  of  the  Legislative  Body.  .  .  .  We  confine  ourselves 
to  a  statement  of  the  facts  as  they  result  from  the  testi- 
mony received,  and  we  repeat  that  the  Deputies,  members  of 
the  Opposition,  with  the  exception  of  M.  de  Keratry,  have  repu- 
diated energetically  all  participation  in  the  preparation  of  an 
act  so  culpable  as  the  assault  upon  an  Assembly  elected  by 
universal  suffrage,  and  to  which  they  belonged;  that  they  for- 
mally disavow  any  complicity  in  this  act,  the  responsibility 
of  which  belongs — if  the  opinion  of  certain  witnesses  is  well- 
founded — to  those  who  were  conspiring  before  September  4th, 
and  who  have  conspired  since;  who,  after  having  been  the 
authors  of  the  insurrection  of  this  day,  became  the  authors 
of  the  insurrections  that  followed  on  October  31st,  January 
22d,  and  March  18th;  to  those,  in  fact,  who  were  the  enemies 
of  all  government  and  the  scourge  of  every  community."  * 

M.  Jules  Ferry,  in  his  testimony  before  the  Parliamentary 
Commission  of  Inquiry,  said :  "  It  is  necessary  for  me  to  ex- 
plain what  our  own  situation  was  as  Republican  Deputies  of 
the  city  of  Paris  with  respect  to  a  certain  portion  of  the  Re- 
publican party. 

'  This  situation  was  very  difficult.  We  were  elected  in 
1869,  and  that  election  showed  already  the  kind  of  obstruction 

*  "  Rapport  fait  au  nora  de  la  Commission  d'Enquete  sur  les  actes  du 
Gouvernement  de  la  Defense  Nationale."  Par  M.  le  Comte  Dam,  p.  41  ff. 


APPENDICES  525 

which  we  as  Republicans  were  about  to  encounter.  M.  Jules 
Favre  was  only  elected  after  a  second  ballot,  and  with  extreme 
difficulty.  From  that  time  public  meetings  began  to  be  held, 
the  violence  in  which  was  of  very  bad  omen.  After  our  elec- 
tion, and  during  that  sort  of  interregnum  in  the  Imperial 
Government  which  ended  in  the  formation  of  a  Parliamentary 
Ministry,  during  this  period,  which  included  several  months, 
we  had — it  is  necessary  that  it  should  be  known,  and  we  ought 
to  speak  it  out  for  the  history  of  our  time — great  difficulty 
at  every  moment  with  the  party  which  we  called  then  by  a  very 
mild  name,  the  party  of  '  impatients,'  which  became  a  little 
later  the  party  of  the  '  exaltes?  and  finally  the  party  of  '  an- 
archy,' over  which  we  have  had  such  difficulty  to  get  the  upper 
hand  in  these  later  times. 

"  From  the  day  that  we  were  elected  we  found  this  party 
blocking  our  way,  as  an  enemy.  We  were  constantly  convoked 
to  meeting's,  at  which  we  were  publicly  accused.  Every  day 
impossible  manifestations  were  got  up.  You  remember,  per- 
haps, that  one  which  it  was  proposed  to  hold  in  October,  1869, 
the  Chamber  not  having  been  assembled  within  the  period  fixed 
by  the  law.  The  '  clubs '  then  decided  that  it  was  our  duty 
as  Deputies  to.  appear  on  the  Place  de  la  Concorde,  on  the 
26th  of  that  month,  T  think.     (See  Chapter  XVI,  page  454.) 

"  When,  finally,  the  Parliamentary  Ministry  was  constituted, 
we  had  the  funeral  of  Victor  ISToir,  'the  affair  Pierre  Bona- 
parte,' as  it  was  then  called,  and  we  were  placed  in  the  posi- 
tion of  men  who  had  not  the  Government  in  their  bands,  but 
who  were  obliged  to  resist  the  tail  of  their  party  exactly  as  il 
they  were  responsible.  A  portion  of  those  who  had  elected  us, 
understanding  absolutely  nothing  of  the  political  situation, 
obedient  solely  to  their  own  passions  and  the  excitations  of 
the  newspapers  and  public  meetings,  dreamed  only  of  popular 
manifestations  copied  after  the  demonstrations  of  the  first 
Revolution.  All  this  was  truly  for  us  a  subject  of  perpetual 
torment. 

"At  the  head  of  this  party  was  a  member  of  the  A   jembly, 

M.  Milliere;  he  seemed  to  be  the  cleveresl  of  all  these  leaders. 

When  we  reached  the  Hotel  de  Ville,  on   September   Itb,  M. 

Milliere  was  already  there,  and  he  was  not  alone.     Two  men 

35 


526  APPENDICES 

especially  attracted  our  attention  by  their  attitude  and  by  their 
efforts.  They  were :  one  of  them,  M.  Milliere,  who  was  harangu- 
ing the  crowd  in  the  great  Throne  Room,  and  the  other  M. 
Delescluze,  who  was  roaming  about  the  Cabinet,  where  we  had 
formed  the  first  Government  Commission. 

"  If  we  had  not  known  the  profound  differences  among  the 
revolutionary  elements  in  the  city  of  Paris ;  if  we  had  not 
known,  from  the  experience  of  many  preceding  months,  that 
there  was  behind  us  a  party  of  anarchy  which  was  waiting 
only  for  a  moment  of  weakness  on  our  part  to  take  the  direc- 
tion of  affairs,  the  presence  of  MM.  Milliere  and  Delescluze, 
and  of  their  acolytes,  at  the  Hotel  de  Ville,  and  the  speeches 
they  pronounced,  would  have  made  the  situation  perfectly 
clear."  * 

IX 

THE    EMPEROR'S    RESPONSIBILITY 

The  question  of  responsibility  for  the  capitulations  during 
the  Franco-German  War  having  been  made  the  subject  of  an 
inquiry  before  a  military  council,  the  Emperor  was  found  to 
be  entirely  responsible  for  the  catastrophe  at  Sedan — either 
in  consequence  of  political  prejudice,  or  from  a  more  laudable 
desire  to  protect  certain  military  reputations  that  would  have 
been  compromised  by  any  other  conclusion. 

Immediately  the  report  of  this  Council  was  published,  the 
Emperor  addressed  the  following  letter  to  each  of  the  generals 
present  at  the  capitulation: 

"  General : 

"  I  am  responsible  to  the  country,  and  I  can  accept  no  judg- 
ment save  that  of  the  nation  regularly  consulted.  Nor  is  it  for 
me  to  pass  an  opinion  with  respect  to  the  report  of  the  Commis- 
sion on  the  capitulation  of  Sedan.  I  shall  only  remind  the 
principal  witnesses  of  that  catastrophe  of  the  critical  position 
in  which  we  found  ourselves.  The  army,  commanded  by  the 
Duke  of  Magenta,  did  its  duty  nobly,  and  fought  heroically 
against  an  enemy  of  twice  its  numbers.     When  driven  back  to 

*  Deposition  de  M.  Jules  Ferry.  "  Enquete  Parlementaire,"  tome  i, 
p.  382. 


APPENDICES  527 

the  walls  of  the  town,  and  into  the  town  itself,  fourteen  thou- 
sand dead  and  wounded  covered  the  field  of  battle,  and  I  saw 
that  to  contest  the  position  any  longer  would  be  an  act  of  des- 
peration. The  honor  of  the  army  having  been  saved  by  the 
bravery  which  had  been  shown,  I  then  exercised  my  sovereign 
right  and  gave  orders  to  hoist  a  flag  of  truce.  I  claim  the  entire 
responsibility  of  that  act.  The  immolation  of  sixty  thousand 
men  could  not  have  saved  France,  and  the  sublime  devotion 
of  her  chiefs  and  soldiers  would  have  been  uselessly  sacrificed. 
We  obeyed  a  cruel  but  inexorable  necessity.  My  heart  was 
broken,  but  my  conscience  was  tranquil. 

"  Napoleon. 
"Camden  Place,  May  12,  1872." 


(l) 


VIVID,  MOVING,  SYMPATHETIC,  HUMOROUS. 


A  Diary  from  Dixie. 

By  Mary  Boykin  Ckesnut.  Being  her  Diary  from 
November,  1861,  to  August,  1865.  Edited  by  Isabella  D. 
Martin  and  Myrta  Lockett  Avary.  Illustrated.  8vo.  Orna- 
mental Cloth,  $2.50  net;  postage  additional. 

Mrs.  Chesnut  was  the  most  brilliant  woman  that  the  South 
has  ever  produced,  and  the  charm  of  her  writing  is  such  as  to 
make  all  Southerners  proud  and  all  Northerners  envious.  She  was 
the  wife  of  James  Chesnut,  Jr.,  who  was  United  States  Senator 
from  South  Carolina  from  1859  to  1861,  and  acted  as  an  aid  to 
President  Jefferson  Davis,  and  was  subsequently  a  Brigadier-Gen- 
eral in  the  Confederate  Army.  Thus  it  was  that  she  was  intimately 
acquainted  with  all  the  foremost  men  in  the  Southern  cause. 

"  In  this  diary  is  preserved  the  most  moving  and  vivid  record  of  the  South- 
ern Confederacy  of  which  we  have  any  knowledge.  It  is  a  piece  of  social 
history  of  inestimable  value.  It  interprets  to  posterity  the  spirit  in  which  the 
Southerners  entered  upon  and  struggled  through  the  war  that  ruined  them. 
It  paints  poignantly  but  with  simplicity  the  wreck  of  that  old  world  which  had 
so  much  about  it  that  was  beautiful  and  noble  as  well  as  evil.  Students  of 
American  life  have  often  smiled,  and  with  reason,  at  the  stilted  and  extrava- 
gant fashion  in  which  the  Southern  woman  had  been  described  south  of  Mason 
and  Dixon's  line — the  unconscious  self-revelations  of  Mary  Chesnut  explain, 
if  they  do  not  justify,  such  extravagance.  For  here,  we  cannot  but  believe, 
is  a  creature  of  a  fine  type,  a  '  very  woman,'  a  very  Beatrice,  frank,  impetuous, 
loving,  full  of  sympathy,  full  of  humor.  Like  her  prototype,  she  had  preju- 
dices, and  she  knew  little  of  the  Northern  people  she  criticised  so  severely; 
but  there  is  less  bitterness  in  the-  e  pages  than  we  mi^ht  have  expected.  Per- 
haps the  editors  have  seen  to  that.  However  this  may  be  they  have  done 
nothing  to  injure  the  writer's  own  nervous,  unconventional  style-  a  style 
breathing  character  and  temperament  as  the  flower  breathes  fragrance." 

— New  York  Tribune. 

"It  is  v. ritten  straight  from  the  heart,  and  with  a  natural  grace  of  style 
that  no  amount  of  polishing  could  have  imparted. " — Chicago  Record-Herald. 

"The  editors  are  to  be  congratulated  ;  it  i-  do(  ev<  ry  day  that  one  comes 
on  such  material  as  this  lnn;^-hidden  diary." — Louisville  Evening  Post. 

"  It  is  a  book  that  would  have  delighted  Charles  Lamb." 

— Houston  Chronicle. 

D .     APPLETON     AND     COMPANY,     NEW     YORK. 


AN  AMERICAN  ADMIRAL. 


Forty-five  Years  Under  the  Flag. 

By  Winfield   Scott   Schley,   Rear- Admiral,  U.  S.  N. 
Illustrated.    8vo.    Cloth,  uncut  edges,  and  gilt  top,  $3.00  net. 

About  one-third  of  Admiral  Schley's  volume  is  devoted  to  the  Spanish 
War,  in  which  he  became  so  great  a  figure.  He  tells  his  own  story  in 
simple  and  effective  words.  His  recollections  are  constantly  reinforced 
by  references  to  dispatches  and  other  documents. 

Readers  will  be  surprised  at  the  extent  of  Admiral  Schley's  experi- 
ences. He  left  the  Naval  Academy  just  before  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil 
War  and  saw  service  with  Farragut  in  the  Gulf.  Three  chapters  are 
devoted  to  Civil  War  events.  His  next  important  service  was  rendered 
during  the  opening  of  Corea  to  the  commerce  of  the  world,  and  the 
chapter  in  which  he  describes  the  storming  of  the  forts  is  one  of  thrilling 
interest.  Another  important  expedition  in  his  life  was  the  rescue  of 
Greely,  to  which  three  chapters  are  devoted.  Two  other  chapters  per- 
tain to  the  Revolution  in  Chili,  and  the  troubles  growing  out  of  the 
attack  upon  some  of  Admiral  Schley's  men  in  the  streets  of  Valparaiso. 

Altogether  the  book  contains  thirty-eight  chapters.  It  has  been  illus- 
trated from  material  furnished  by  Admiral  Schley  and  through  his  sug- 
gestions, and  makes  an  octavo  volume  of  large  size.  It  will  appeal  to 
every  true-hearted  American. 

The  author  says  in  his  preface  :  "  In  times  of  danger  and  duty  the  writer 
endeavored  to  do  the  work  set  before  him  without  fear  of  consequences.  With 
this  thought  in  mind,  he  has  felt  moved,  as  a  duty  to  his  wife,  his  children, 
and  his  name,  to  leave  a  record  of  his  long  professional  life,  which  has  not 
been  without  some  prestige,  at  least  for  the  flag  he  has  loved  and  under  which 
he  has  served  the  best  years  of  his  life." 

"  Rear-  Admiral  W.  S.  Schley's  'Forty-five  Years  Under  the  Flag'  is  the 
most  valuable  contribution  to  the  history  of  the  American  Navy  that  has  been 
written  in  many  a  year." — New  York  Times. 

_  "  The  author's  career  is  well  worthy  of  a  book,  and  he  has  every  reason  for 
pride  in  telling  of  his  forty-five  active  years  in  all  parts  of  the  world." 

—Edwin  L.  Shuman  in  the  Chicago  Record-Herald. 
"  It  is  a  stirring  story,  told  with  the  simple  directness  of  a  sailor.     Its  read- 
ing carries  the  conviction  of  its  truthfulness.      The  Admiral  could  not  have 
hoped  to  accomplish  more." — Chicago  Evening  Post. 

"  He  has  told  his  own  story,  in  his  own  way,  from  his  own  viewpoint,  and 
goes  after  his  detractors,  open  and  above  board,  with  his  big  guns." 

—  Washington  Post. 
"  It  is  a  work  that  will  interest  everyone,  from  the  sixteen-year-old  school- 
boy who  is  studying  history  and  loves  tales  of  stirring  adventure  to  the  grand- 
sire  whose  blood  still  pulses  hotly  with  patriotic  pride  at  the  recounting  of 
valiant  deeds  of  arms  under  our  starry  flag."— Boston  American 

"The  Admiral  tells  the  story  well.  His  is  a  manly  and  straightforward 
style.     He  leaves  nothing  to  doubt,  nothing  open  to  controversy." 

— Baltimore  Sun. 

D.    APPLETON     AND    COMPANY,     NEW    YORK. 


uc 


SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


AA      000173  944    o 


